Apollo 17 The Last Trip to the Moon – 11th December 1972

Apollo 17 was the last manned flight to the moon and it took place 38 years ago today. Since then no human has placed afoot on the moon. 
The successful Apollo 17 manned lunar landing mission was the last in a series of three J-type missions which used the battery powered Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). As a result of these additions, the Apollo 17 mission had a duration of 12.5 days, and a time on the lunar surface of 75 hr with a total distance covered on the moon of approximately 35 km.

Crew

Eugene Cernan Commander
Last man to walk on the Moon.
Ronald B. Evans Module Pilot
Harrison H. Schmitt Lunar Module Pilot First trained scientist (geologist) to set foot on the moon.

World Space Week Day 7 - Future Spaceflight

Voyager 1 is our most travelled spacecraft to date, clocking up a mammoth 12 billion km during its incredible journey to the edge of our solar system.

However, this long-haul trip has taken over 30 years to complete. What's more, even at speeds of over 35,000 mph, Voyager will take a further 20,000 years to reach the middle of the Oort Cloud, the hazy swarm of comets that surrounds the solar system.

Proxima Centauri, our nearest star, is twice this distance again. Clearly, if we want to explore further than our celestial doorstep, we must find new modes of space travel. From the feasible to the fantastic, here is a run-down of top transport options...

Future Options

Solar Sails
Made from flimsy, fragile material, they could be the next big thing in space travel. Rather than using the wind to push them along, solar sails are propelled by sunlight. A solar sail is a lightweight panel made from reflective material that acts like the sails of a boat. Rather than using wind, however, the sails are actually propelled by light. Unbelievable as it may seem, the stream of light particles (called photons) emitted from the Sun is strong enough to push a mini-spacecraft right out of the Solar System and beyond into interstellar space.

Ion Engines
Instead of burning chemical fuels, ion engines are electrically charged and work by ejecting positive ions from the back of the rocket, propelling the spacecraft forward. Though the thrust is tiny, the ion engine is extremely efficient, allowing the fuel to last far longer than in conventional rockets. Ion powered spacecraft gradually accelerate to extremely high speeds of 35,000 km per hour or more.

Nuclear Power.
One of the most feasible, yet controversial, methods of space transport. Our current chemical rocket engines produce relatively little power. They have to make use of planetary alignments, or 'launch windows', and use the gravity of other planets to catapult them further into space. Nuclear rockets would be more powerful and wouldn't need to take advantage of these chance planetary pattern. There are two types of possible nuclear rocket which rely on different types of nuclear reactions:

• fission, when atoms are split apart
• and fusion, when they join together.

Antimatter Spacecraft.
Antimatter, the alter-ego of matter, is the most efficient fuel possible, converting 100% of its mass into energy. There is a big problem with using antimatter. It takes more energy to make antiparticles than antiparticles produce when they are destroyed. Because of this, only 10 billionths of a gram is produced globally per year. This paltry amount isn't even enough to heat a cup of coffee, let alone travel to another planet. In addition to this, there's also the tricky problem of storage. How do you contain antimatter when it explodes as soon as it comes in contact with matter?

These technical difficulties mean that we won't be jetting off in antimatter rockets in the foreseeable future. Researchers at NASA's Marshall Flight Centre are hoping that the technology will be ready in 30-40 years time.

World Space Week Day 6 - The ISS International Space Station

The International Space Station (ISS) is an internationally developed research facility. In-orbit construction of the station began in 1998 and is scheduled for completion by late 2011. The station is expected to remain in operation until at least 2015, and likely 2020. The ISS can be seen from Earth with the naked eye and is by far the largest artificial satellite that has ever orbited Earth.
The ISS serves as a research laboratory in which crews conduct experiments in biology, chemistry, medicine, physiology and physics. The station provides a unique environment for the testing of the spacecraft systems that will be required for missions to the Moon and Mars. The ISS is operated by crews of six, with the station programme maintaining an uninterrupted human presence in space since the first launch of on 31 October 2000.
The programme is thus approaching the current record for uninterrupted human presence on a space station.
The ISS is a synthesis of several space station projects from  America, Russia, Europe and Japan. Budget constraints led to the merger of these projects into a single multi-national programme. The ISS project began in 1994when the first module of the station, was launched in 1998 by Russia. Assembly continues, as pressurised modules, external trusses, and other components are launched by American and Russian launch vehicles.
As of May 2010, the station consists of fourteen pressurised modules and an extensive integrated truss structures (ITS). Power comes from sixteen solar arrays mounted on the external truss, in addition to four smaller arrays on the Russian modules. The station has an orbit between 278 km (173 mi) and 460 km (286 mi) altitude, and travels at an average speed of 27,743.8 km/h (17,239.2 mph), completing 15.7 orbits per day.
Operated as a joint project between the five participant space agencies, the station's sections are controlled by mission control centres on the ground operated by the NASA, the ESA, the RKA, the JAXA and the CSA.
The ownership and use of the space station is established in intergovernmental treaties and agreements that allow the Russian Federation to retain full ownership of its own modules in the Russian Orbital Segment, with the remainder of the station, allocated between the other international partners.
The cost of the station has been estimated by ESA as €100 billion over 30 years, and, although estimates range from 35 billion dollars to 160 billion dollars, the ISS is believed to be the most expensive object ever constructed.

World Space Week Day 5 - Crawler Transporter

 

These vehicle (there are two) has been used for all the Apollo launches as well as all the shuttle launches and each has covered ‘only’ 1,500 miles in the process.

Transporter Statistics

• Weight: 2,721 metric tons (6 million pounds)
• Length: 40 meters (131 ft) wide, 35 meters (114ft) long
• Miles: 2,526 miles (1,243 miles since 1977)

NASA has 2 crawler-transporters. Each vehicle consists of four double-tracked crawlers, each 3 meters (10 ft) high and 12 meters (41 ft) long. Each of the 8 tracks on a vehicle contains 57 shoes per track and each tread shoe weighs about .9 metric tons (one ton).

The Crawler/Transporter is powered by 16 traction motors powered by four 1,000 kw generators, driven by two 2,750hp diesel engines. Two 750 kw generators, driven by two 1,065 hp diesel engines are used for jacking, steering, lighting, and ventilating.

When they were built, the crawlers were the largest tracked vehicles ever made. (now suppassed by the Bagger 288 excavator). They move the Mobile Launcher Platform into the Vehicle Assembly Building and then to the Launch Pad with the assembled space vehicle. Maximum speed is 1.6km (one mile) per hour loaded, about 3.2 km (2 miles) per hour unloaded. The trip time fully loaded is about 5 hours. The crawler burns 568 liters (150 gallons) of diesel oil per mile.

The top of the orbiter is kept vertical within plus or minus 10 minutes of arc, about the diameter of a basketball during the journey. Leveling systems within the crawler keeps the platform level while negotiating the 5% ramp leading up to the pad surface.

The height of the crawler is 6 meters (20ft) to 8 meters (26 feet) adjustable. The top deck is flat and square, about the size of a baseball infield, 27 meters (90 feet) on a side. Two operator control cabs, one at each end of the chassis, are used to control all crawler systems.

World Space Week Day 4 – The Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle, part of the Space Transportation System (STS), is an American spacecraft operated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for orbital human spaceflight missions, operational flights began in 1982. The system is scheduled to be retired from service in 2011 after 134 launches. Major missions have included launching numerous satellites and interplanetary probes, conducting space science experiments, and servicing and construction of space stations.

At launch, the Space Shuttle consists of the shuttle stack which includes a dark orange-colored external tank, two white, slender Solid Rocket Boosters and the Orbiter Vehicle which contains the crew and payload. The Space Shuttle is "stacked" in the Vehicle Assembly Building and the stack mounted on a mobile launch platform held down by four explosive bolts on each SRB which are detonated at launch.

The shuttle stack launches vertically, like a conventional rocket, from a mobile launch platform. It lifts off under the power of its two SRBs and the three main engines which are fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen from the external tank. The Space Shuttle has a two stage ascent. The SRBs provide additional thrust during liftoff and first stage flight. About two minutes after liftoff explosive bolts are fired releasing the SRBs which parachute into the ocean to be retrieved for reuse. The shuttle orbiter and external tank continue to ascend on an increasingly horizontal flight path under power from the three main engines. Upon reaching 17,500 mph, necessary for low Earth orbit, the main engines are shut down. The external tank is then jettisoned downward to burn up in the atmosphere.

The orbiter carries a crew of 5 to 7 astronauts and payload. Two crew members, the Commander and Pilot, are sufficient for a minimal flight. A typical payload capacity is about 22,700 kilograms (50,000 lb), but can be raised depending on the choice of launch configuration. The orbiter carries the payload in a large cargo bay with doors that open along the length of its top, a feature which makes the Space Shuttle unique among present spacecraft. This feature made possible the deployment of large satellites such as the Hubble Space Telescope, and also to capture and return large payloads back to Earth.

When the orbiter's space mission is complete it fires its OMS thrusters to drop out of orbit and re-enter the lower atmosphere. In the lower atmosphere and landing phase, it acts as a glider. It then makes a landing on a long runway. The aerodynamic shape is a compromise between the demands of radically different speeds and air pressures during re-entry, subsonic atmospheric flight, and hypersonic flight.

With more than 2.5 million parts, the Space Shuttle has been called the most complex machine yet created by humanity.

World Space Week Day 3 – Moon Walkers

Twelve people have walked on the Moon. All human landings took place between July 1969 and December 1972, as part of the Apollo program.
Here is the list

Name	Born	Died	Lunar dates
Neil Armstrong	August 5, 1930		July 21, 1969
Buzz Aldrin	January 20, 1930
Pete Conrad	June 2, 1930	July 8, 1999	November 19–20, 1969
Alan Bean	March 15, 1932
Alan Shepard	November 18, 1923	July 21, 1998	February 5–6, 1971
Edgar Mitchell	September 17, 1930
David Scott	June 6, 1932		July 31 – August 2, 1971
James Irwin	March 17, 1930	August 8, 1991
John W. Young	September 24, 1930		April 21–23, 1972
Charles Duke	October 3, 1935
Eugene Cernan	March 14, 1934		December 11–14, 1972
Harrison Schmitt	July 3, 1935

World Space Week Day 2 - Moondust

Nine astronauts who walked on the Moon are still alive, but their clouds of glory have gone dark. Andrew Smith tracks them down in Moondust.

As Smith notes: 'Of over 400 people who have now into space, only 27 have ever left Earth orbit and seen her from the perspective of Deep Space - all American and all between the Christmases of 1968 and 1972.'

In those four wonderful Apollo years, it seemed that the post-war sci-fi visions of Arthur C Clarke and Isaac Asimov would be realised overnight. Then came the Vietnam war's final throes and Watergate. America's mood darkened, its public got bored with the Moon and the final missions were cancelled. 'The best of times for America was also the worst of times,' as Nasa flight director Chris Kraft noted.

Today many people doubt if we even visited the Moon, a piteous state of affairs given the magnitude of the achievement. Worst still, of the 12 men who actually landed three are dead and the rest are ageing all are over 70.

Hence, Smith's mission to seek out the last nine and discover how the decades have treated the only humans to have walked on another world. 'I wondered whether the Moonwalkers had reconciled themselves to being Earthbound; whether they'd made peace with their world or continued to mourn their strangled hopes,' says Smith as he begins his quest.

Of course, it cannot be easy continually answering the same daft question: what's it like to walk on the Moon? The late Pete Conrad (Apollo 12), got round the problem by answering: 'Super! Really enjoyed it!' on every occasion. On the other hand, the level of dysfunction uncovered by Smith is astonishing.

Another startling theme is that Nasa sent men to the Moon on a meagrely-tested tower of high explosives and gave them a navigational computer with less memory than a mobile phone. They were paid $8 a day minus deductions for their free bed on Apollo. Aldrin still has a framed receipt on his wall: 'From Houston to Cape Kennedy, Moon, Pacific Ocean. Amount claimed: $33.31.'

Having created these heroes and used them to glorify America, Nasa paid them a pittance then dumped them, leaving them to struggle with the consequences of their fame and their physical and spiritual achievements. None was properly equipped to deal with his fall to Earth. What, after all, can you do with rest of your life, once you have been to the Moon? Not a lot is the simple answer provided by Smith.

The book is still a wonderful collective biography  of the Apollo programme astronauts. 4 Moons.

World Space Week Day 1

World Space Week is observed annually from October 4 to October 10 as announced by the United Nations General Assembly and has been considered as an International Celebration of Science and Technology.
World Space Week is supported by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs with the assistance of World Space Week Association, an NGO.

I have always been interested in Space exploration, so this weeks blogs will be mostly abouyt space.
Space when will we go there again?

Ryanair dethrones Iberia in Spain

It is hard to beleive but I checked it and it is true. Despite trating passengers as cattle, having the worst behaving (to passengers) cabin crew. They have done it.
Irish low-cost airline Ryanair said it had overtaken Spanish flag carrier Iberia as the largest airline in Spain in terms of the number of passengers carried.
The company quoted official statistics from Spain's airport authority AENA showing that Ryanair in July transported 2.98 million passengers to or from Spain, compared to 2.77 million for Iberia. The budget carrier congratulated itself for having "dethroned Iberia as the preferred company in Spain."
The company, which began operating from Barcelona's main airport El Prat, said in a statement it planned to add 12 new destinations from Madrid's Barajas airport this year, to reach a total of 44.
Iberia by contrast has said it plans to further cut its domestic offers in order to concentrate on international routes, in particular to Latin America.

Your Safety and your Children’s Safety

The holiday season in Spain is over, however, what struck me most was how people ignored safety either of themselves or their children.

Parasailing from the Beach looks cool, however, its a whole lot different when a 16 stone bloke gets strapped in. Did you check the knots? Knots? Surely you mean harness straps and buckles. Landing? Oh my good I am doing 20 miles an hour and my 15 minutes are up, what did the Spanish guy say? Where’s my crash hat? Is that the sea coming up? Boom! Splash!

It is a bit funny to see all this from the beach bar. Most come back laughing and trying to ignore the pain of splash down or torn ligaments. Insured? I don’t think so, not on most holiday insurance!

And as for letting the kids hire a scooter, its laughable. Sure you can prove he is 16, it says so on his passport. Insurance, well the bloke said so in all those forms I signed in Spanish. Crash hat was extra and it more or less fits. Shoes, eh, well don’t flip flop count? And  am sure that the T shirt and shorts will protect him if he comes off. And I told him no passengers.

Other road user? Spanish drivers, well I told him just the quite roads and no more than 30 mph, what’s that in kph? 50? 60? Oh well I am sure he will be OK.

The local hospital are full of people who normally take care in the UK but for some reason all safety thoughts go out of their head when on holiday.

Did I also mention banana boats? Ski Jets? Kayaks? Peddalos?

GUARDIA CIVIL OFFICERS TO ISSUE MORE FINES

Traffic police in Spain are starting to be evaluated based on the number of tickets they issue. According to the Civil Guard’s transit security division, traffic cops will be given points for each infraction they cite. For example, issuing speeding tickets could earn the officer two points while four points will be given if the officer issues the driver a citation for transporting prohibited materials or too many passengers.

All alcohol-related infractions will be worth nine points, the Civil Guard said in a statement. If they don’t reach a set number of points they will have their salary reduced further!

Ryanair and Murcia Airport

Our nearest airport is San Javier Airport, Murcia its only 25 minutes away and Ryanair has a route from Liverpool (our UK base). It is a really nice smallish airport with no hassles.  However, from November it will no longer exist. Not because of lack of passengers but for a spat between Ryanair and the Murcia Airport Authorities.

The airline is furious at the airports inflexibility and its handing €3 million to the small regional airline Air Nostrum, which mainly operates domestic flights from Madrid. Ryanair sees the grant as throwing good money after bad. Air Nostrum’s traffic, despite the massive cash injection, has seen its traffic decline by 23% during the last year.

Ryanair points out that their airline carries 49% of all UK traffic to Murcia. It operates 76 San Javier flights bringing 120,000 tourists each week during the winter months when local businesses are desperately trying to stay afloat.

After several months of meetings the Murcia authorities have been unresponsive. The airline feels its only option is to switch its carriers to more responsive regions such as rival Alicante with which it has reached amicable agreement for more slots.

So its off to Alicante, which is an hour away. However, it is not clear if Ryanair will go from Liverpool to Alicante, we know they, like other airlines go from Manchester to Alicante. So it could be an hour to Manchester Airport for us on the other side.

So in one swoop our travel plans have to change and at least a half an hour added to each end plus additional costs for cabs in Spain and trains in the UK. 

Dangerous on the Road

This is a Spanish taxi. The most dangerous thing on the road in  Spain today. They are always white with lots of advertisements on the paintwork.

The cars themselves are usually well maintained and clean with the drivers taking great care of the interior and exterior, with the local councils doing there bit to ensure that they are safe on the road and fully insured.

But beware, the drivers have no need to pass any test other than the normal driving test. Once they get in the taxi they become Alonso, not Xabi Alonso the footballer but Alonso the Formula 1 driver, you know the one that does not look in the mirror and thinks he is the only one on the track.

They only know one speed, how fast can this cab go! Signals – no chance.  

Mountain Trip

I never really thought of Spain as a mountainous country, I know that it has a border with France and the Pyrenees help define the border.
So it came as a surprise when the Lady of the Villa organised a day trip to our local mountains. We went by Coach, thank God, as the Sat Nav would have got us lost I am sure. The roads were very like those in the Lake District only better maintained and much steeper. We were told that the Tour de France teams train here. I can well believe it.
It was a vey picturesque trip, stopping off and various towns and villages for ‘photo opportunities’ as you can see below.
   
This was an old look out tower built during the Moor’s occupation of Spain.




One view from the top of the tower.




View from the other side of the tower

Solar boat

We have been on a number of day trips recently. One of which took us on a trip on a Solar powered Boat.

The trip on the boat was only an hour and was part of the overall day trip. The boat took us around the great reservoir that services Benidorm and was not exciting but quite and picturesque.

The boat itself held about 60 people and was totally powered by the solar panels you can see on the top picture.

  I tried to get the details of the output of the solar panels in this picture, however, as you can see I failed. According to Mr Fixit, who was with us that day, each panel was pushing out enough electricity to power a good sized kettle and as they were over 50 panels on the boat more than enough power for the boat.

Talking to the boat keeper it did work on non cloudy days, however, on rainy overcast days it struggled a bit. But lucky for him not many rainy days in Spain.

Ways around recession in Spain

Visitors crossing the border from Spain into Gibraltar could be forced to pay a toll in the latest row over the disputed British territory.

The mayor of La Linea, the Spanish town bordering Gibraltar, is looking into introducing a tax on those crossing in an attempt to cash in on the large number of visitors to the peninsula known as The Rock.  Mayor Alejandra Sanchez of the right-wing Popular Party claims that the socialist government in Madrid has sacrificed the town of La Linea's interests, favouring Gibraltar, to ensure good relations with Britain.
He argues that "millions of visitors cross the town to get into the British colony each year", and that most of Gibraltar's income comes from visitors from Spain. "Meanwhile, we have 10,000 unemployed in La Linea. This truly intolerable situation cannot continue," he said.
He has ordered a study on the legality of charging vehicles and pedestrians using the border crossing a nominal fee to help swell town council finances. Spanish workers employed on the Rock would be exempt from the toll, he assured.
Critics of the mayor's proposal point out that La Linea already benefits hugely from neighbouring Gibraltar. Some 7,000 Spanish workers are registered as officially employed in the tiny territory and countless others provide services or supplies. Many of the 28,000 Gibraltarians own homes over the border in Spain because of a shortage of affordable housing on the Rock itself.
But the town hall of La Linea is said to be close to bankruptcy with recent demonstrations from council workers protesting that they had not been paid their wages. This border crossing charge, for visitors, not the Spanish workers, the Mayor sees as a way of increasing his towns income at the cost of hitting Gibraltar's economy.

Foreign Holidays by Brits down

The Lady of the Villa and I have had more than the usual number of visitors this year due to the World Cup. However, generally we have noticed that the bars and restaurants are not as crowded as normal and feel that the visitor numbers are falling. this was confirmed after a scout around the internet.
Trips overseas by UK residents fell at the fastest rate on record last year as the recession slashed travel and made families opt to holiday at home. Official data released confirms the picture of what many referred to as the ‘staycation’ trend in 2009, as visits abroad fell by 15% from the year before to 58.6m. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that this was the biggest drop since records began in the 1970s.
The decline in visits abroad and to the UK in 2009 follow a long period of growth that only started to tail off in 2007. This decline in visitors will be another massive blow to the Spanish economy, if it is kept up this year. And on first hand experience it does not look good for the bars, restaurants and stores in my part of Spain.

Caveat emptor - Let the Buyer Beware

Ryanair has again been reprimanded for misleading customers with low fare offers, a watchdog has found. Two newspaper adverts for the airline offered £10 one-way fares, with the small print explaining that the offer was subject to restrictions. The Advertising Standards Authority, following a complaint by EasyJet, said that the "ads were likely to mislead".
The complaint concerned £10 one-way fares to Gothenburg and Dusseldorf. The small print said that the offer was subject to availability and excluded fees and charges.  EasyJet challenged the availability of the fares and queried if they included taxes, charges and check-in fees or were misleading because the ad did not state the relevant travel dates. Ryanair told the ASA that more than 10,000 seats were available to Gothenburg and more than 22,000 seats were on offer to Dusseldorf.
The airline said there was no requirement to include in adverts the specific travel dates for offers, but said the campaign was for flights between 1 January and 28 February this year. But the ASA said in its report that readers were likely to believe the £10 deal was a fixed price, rather than for specific dates.
Caveat emptor - Let the Buyer beware comes to mind here. All the so called low cost airlines always add on charges somewhere along the line, the final price is always nearly twice the ‘Headline Price’. In my opinion they get away with murder on advertising. They may ‘charge’ X for the flight in the Ad but taxes, booking fees, bags etc soon double the flight charge. This should be stated up front.

Boarding Pass to Disappear

As a frequent flyer I was very interested to read this, again from the Internet, but from the Daily Telegraph.

The humble boarding pass is becoming the latest victim of the aviation industry’s drive towards a paperless future. Instead passengers will use their mobile phones to board an aircraft, with the device being read by a scanner at the departure gate.

It will mean that passengers will no longer rummage through every pocket at the departure gate only to find the pass has been used as a bookmark for a paperback bought 20 minutes earlier but now searching for their phones.

British Airways mobile phone boarding pass will make its debut on the iPhone soon Monday, when it will be available on flights on the Heathrow – Edinburgh route. Other airlines, such as Air France, have already introduced the technology, BA has gone further incorporating the pass as part of an all-singing, all-dancing application. The airline believes a mobile phone cannot only carry a boarding pass, but just about anything else a passenger might want.

Its software developers have developed an application which will not only contain the boarding pass, but also flight information, frequent flier points, check-in times and eventually boarding gates and boarding times. BA’s iPhone boarding pass is expected to be ready for all domestic destinations by the end of August and for the bulk of short haul routes within six months with most long-distance destinations are expected be incorporated by the middle of next year and the United States by the end of December 2011.

The key to the introduction of the mobile phone boarding passes is the development of a new generation of scanners which can read different airlines’ codes.

Underpinning the drive for the new technology in the aviation industry is an attempt to simplify the process of going through and airport cutting out the delays which have infuriated passengers across the world. Even saving a couple of seconds on processing an individual passenger can make a dramatic difference to the length of queues.

It is among a series of developments which airline passengers can expect over the next few years, with carriers also looking at putting radio tags on luggage to prevent bags being lost.

Barcelona bans Bikinis

Authorities in Barcelona, fed up with tourists wandering the streets in their swimming costumes, are preparing a massive campaign to convince them to put on clothes when they leave the beach.
"We want to make people understand that it's an attitude that we don't like, that it's not banned or punishable but that it's something we don't think is civil," a spokeswoman for the city hall said Friday.
Municipal authorities in the Spanish city have already printed posters showing a couple in swimming costumes with a red line across it, along with another couple dressed normally but without the red line.
"In the coming weeks we are going to put up the posters in the metro, buses and in all public areas," the spokeswoman said.
"And the mayor has sent letters to businesses, hotels, bars, restaurants ... encouraging them to download the poster and paste on their walls."