Tragedy in space
- Thread starter flamelord
- Start date
I'm afraid that this can't be confirmed. NASA may have lost radio contact with Apollo 13, but until we can send a probe to pick up the pieces all hope can not be lost. The ABC report said that NASA was "Deeply Concerned" over the mission but there is the hope that they can regain radio contact.
NBC might have had an expert who thought this was the most likely situation, but Its still too early to call this one a loss. Give it two more days; that's when they should return to Earth
[OOC: Seeing Apollo 13 Explode in Space is ASB, or at least close, owing to the fact that contact between it and Ground Control was essentially radio. NBC would probably claim that 'radio contact was lost'. Consider that when the Shuttle Columbia broke up, the only thing that happened was that radio contact was lost. It would be much longer until the fragments were clearly visible.]
NBC might have had an expert who thought this was the most likely situation, but Its still too early to call this one a loss. Give it two more days; that's when they should return to Earth
[OOC: Seeing Apollo 13 Explode in Space is ASB, or at least close, owing to the fact that contact between it and Ground Control was essentially radio. NBC would probably claim that 'radio contact was lost'. Consider that when the Shuttle Columbia broke up, the only thing that happened was that radio contact was lost. It would be much longer until the fragments were clearly visible.]
Hyperion
Banned
You fail.
Its not hard to imagine the possibility of something like this actually happening. Assume that this has been confirmed after 3 or 4 days of radio silence. Easy.
You'd never SEE the blast. You could only guess that the blast had happened. And there'd be no way to know anything for sure until wreckage went into Earth's atmosphere, if it was even heading in that direction at the time.
No need to get cocky. Apollo 13 goes dead--but knowing why isn't within anyone's power. I have not said that it could not happen, only that this was explained poorly. No one is going to know that it blew up--no one can.
Perhaps you have managed to both misinterpret my question and satiate your machismo in one response, but the point is entirely valid--NBC can't know this and that's a fact. Even if Apollo 13 was sending a radio message at the time of the explosion, all you'd get is a message cutoff, similar to the Columbia disaster. So the OP doesn't make any sense and you missed the point.
Oh so OOC:
Apollo capsules were on predetermined flightplans. At most hope could be retained for several days as long sa it would take them to go around the moon and back to home. After 5-6 days there would be no option but to consider mission lost and crew dead.
Chances of any probes confirming the disaster are very low. Fragments would slowly distribute themselves over millions of km long orbit, you would need a extremely lot of luck and a very powerful radar in space to find anything.
Apollo capsules were on predetermined flightplans. At most hope could be retained for several days as long sa it would take them to go around the moon and back to home. After 5-6 days there would be no option but to consider mission lost and crew dead.
Chances of any probes confirming the disaster are very low. Fragments would slowly distribute themselves over millions of km long orbit, you would need a extremely lot of luck and a very powerful radar in space to find anything.
Actually the OTL AS-13 explosion was seen from the ground.
During the Apollo porgram NASA staff used a telescope (14 inch to be specific) to get pictures of the "stack" and events (jettisoning the S-IV panels, and urine dumps, etc...). BTW this wasn't an "offical" NASA project it was done on peoples free time, with their own gear.
On the 13 APR, they where were watching the S-IV (3rd stage), it was bigger and was tumbling making causing it to flash brighter. For As 8, 10,& 12 they track succeeded in getting picture almost out to the 2/3s point.
The CSM/LM stack was by that point too small, but they were hoping to see the urine dump (the urine froze in cystrals and expanded in a cloud much larger and brighter than the stack).
What they saw, was a "suddenpinpoint of light, that rapidlly expanded in to a bright cloud far too large to be the urine dump" (from LOST MOON, but I've read this in the offical NASA report and other sources, plus seen the pictures). The cloud is believed to had been the debis cloud, pieces of the CM, frozen O2, et. al. They tracked the "cloud" for the next 12 hours.
So... if the explosion occurs in the TL, they'll see something.
During the Apollo porgram NASA staff used a telescope (14 inch to be specific) to get pictures of the "stack" and events (jettisoning the S-IV panels, and urine dumps, etc...). BTW this wasn't an "offical" NASA project it was done on peoples free time, with their own gear.
On the 13 APR, they where were watching the S-IV (3rd stage), it was bigger and was tumbling making causing it to flash brighter. For As 8, 10,& 12 they track succeeded in getting picture almost out to the 2/3s point.
The CSM/LM stack was by that point too small, but they were hoping to see the urine dump (the urine froze in cystrals and expanded in a cloud much larger and brighter than the stack).
What they saw, was a "suddenpinpoint of light, that rapidlly expanded in to a bright cloud far too large to be the urine dump" (from LOST MOON, but I've read this in the offical NASA report and other sources, plus seen the pictures). The cloud is believed to had been the debis cloud, pieces of the CM, frozen O2, et. al. They tracked the "cloud" for the next 12 hours.
So... if the explosion occurs in the TL, they'll see something.
This is CBS Special News
the radiotelescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory (UK)
confirm the explosion of Apollo 13
and the spacecraft is brocken in serveral piece
NASA has not yet confirm the news
stay tune...
the radiotelescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory (UK)
confirm the explosion of Apollo 13
and the spacecraft is brocken in serveral piece
NASA has not yet confirm the news
stay tune...
Well, OTL the AS-13 "Successfull/ Failure" is given credit with saving the last Apollo moon missions (16 & 17 definitely, 15 prob.
In the months between AS-12 (NOV 69) and the launch of AS-13 (APR 70) were was growing pressure (even among pro NASA and pro manned Space communities) to cancel the remaining flights and either move onto SKYLAB, and the Apollo replacement or kill the whole manned program right there (and a lot of the unmanned).
Apollo 20 was canceled in JAN 70, so that its SATURN V could be used for SKYLAB. And while the cancelation of 18 & 19 (techinically it was Apollo 15 and Apollo 19 missiona, they renumbered) were made in SEP 70, NASA was under considerable pressure to either have a 1-2 year pause after 13 or end the moon program right there (the scene in the movie APOLLO 13, where LOVELL/HANKS tells the Congressial tour head's Apollo 14's commander, and the "actor" replies "if there's a 14" is based on a comment by Walter Mondale at a hearing in DC in NOV 69) . All to SAVE money.... **Ignoring the fact that the actual mission was the least expensive part of Apollo...
** NASA was going to 6-8 month gaps between missions, but that was to more to do with the science and planning/training for better missions being that the "end of decade" goal was complete, and the hardware was brought
After Apollo 13 the question of "pauses," or an immediate stop to the program was "politicially" dead at least till there were several successes (14 & 15). It resurfaced a little with 16, and definitely with 17, SEN McGovern, during the 72 race, called on Nixon to cancel Apollo 17, and even stated he would have to be "convinced" to allow SKYLAB to fly.
So I believe if the crew is lost, the program gets a public shot in the arm, like OTL. BUT the suspect you would see actual head roll at NASA (much like after Apollo 1). You also might get more funding for the Apollo follow on (the shuttle), making it a very difference bird (the current STS/Shuttle is a result of budget compromises).
In the months between AS-12 (NOV 69) and the launch of AS-13 (APR 70) were was growing pressure (even among pro NASA and pro manned Space communities) to cancel the remaining flights and either move onto SKYLAB, and the Apollo replacement or kill the whole manned program right there (and a lot of the unmanned).
Apollo 20 was canceled in JAN 70, so that its SATURN V could be used for SKYLAB. And while the cancelation of 18 & 19 (techinically it was Apollo 15 and Apollo 19 missiona, they renumbered) were made in SEP 70, NASA was under considerable pressure to either have a 1-2 year pause after 13 or end the moon program right there (the scene in the movie APOLLO 13, where LOVELL/HANKS tells the Congressial tour head's Apollo 14's commander, and the "actor" replies "if there's a 14" is based on a comment by Walter Mondale at a hearing in DC in NOV 69) . All to SAVE money.... **Ignoring the fact that the actual mission was the least expensive part of Apollo...
** NASA was going to 6-8 month gaps between missions, but that was to more to do with the science and planning/training for better missions being that the "end of decade" goal was complete, and the hardware was brought
After Apollo 13 the question of "pauses," or an immediate stop to the program was "politicially" dead at least till there were several successes (14 & 15). It resurfaced a little with 16, and definitely with 17, SEN McGovern, during the 72 race, called on Nixon to cancel Apollo 17, and even stated he would have to be "convinced" to allow SKYLAB to fly.
So I believe if the crew is lost, the program gets a public shot in the arm, like OTL. BUT the suspect you would see actual head roll at NASA (much like after Apollo 1). You also might get more funding for the Apollo follow on (the shuttle), making it a very difference bird (the current STS/Shuttle is a result of budget compromises).
OOC: Um... sure? This sort of thing will be very complicated. This will require launching a specially built rocket to pick up small pieces of space junk which are accelerating away from the disaster area, make several course and speed changes to pick up said debris, and then complete a reversal and head back to earth. All to analize small debris to answer why a spacecraft managed to explode, which could very likely be answered from earth. Also, Space exploration, especially in that day and age, required a large amount of preparation and planning. It took 9 years for NASA to meet Kennedy's goal of putting a man on the moon (unless you believe that was a hoax). NASA will not do this in a very quick timeframe, and the time needed to prepare for this mission will most likely make salvage pointless.
Not doable, in APR 70, and today, NASA (or the Russians) had nothing that could be stacked and launched that fast, let alone catch up with an Apollo stack (or the debris cloud) in trans-linar trajectory (not free return at that), nor anything that could return...
Remember despite the "explosion" the debris will still be in the same course and speed toward the moon (specifically just ahead of the moon and then beyond it). Maybe some of the stack it knocked into an intersect path with the moon, the vast majority is going into a eternal solar orbit.
OOC:Its not ASB at all, actually. IRL when Odyssey's O2 tanks burst, the gas cloud was visible to amatuer astronomers with store-bought binoculars and telescopes. Same with Columbia. The loss of radio contact was the first indication that there was a problem, but the pieces were visible to the naked eye almost immediately.
pacifichistorian
Banned
Forget "radio contact". If the vehicle exploded, or vented to space, Houston would know immediately: the crew telemetry would flatline.
Actually, you would see it.Both professional and amature astronomers reported seeing a large glowing cloud around the spacecraft when Odyssey's O2 tanks blew out.
Full disaster will likely cause all subsequent flights to be canceled. Maybe someone very skilled in human relations and backscratching could convince administration that just stopping would be bad for image of USA space program and plan for a Apollo revival with redesigned and improved hardware in late '70es... full Apollo Applications stuff.
Realistically, space program stops and shuttle bandwagon starts. Confidence in Apollo service module could maybe even kill Skylab flights... At worst much less stuff done in space in '70es than in OTL by USA. However maybe realization of danger and risks causes a better and safer shuttle.
Realistically, space program stops and shuttle bandwagon starts. Confidence in Apollo service module could maybe even kill Skylab flights... At worst much less stuff done in space in '70es than in OTL by USA. However maybe realization of danger and risks causes a better and safer shuttle.