Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made use of their lunar module Eagle to launch off from the lunar surface and they released many items, such as their flag tube, TV camera and tools for collecting samples from moon rocks and dust.
These objects were intended to crash onto the lunar surface and be left there, but James Meador has found evidence that some may have survived intact and floated away instead.
What is the Apollo 11 ascent stage?
NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left the moon’s surface in 1969 using a piece of equipment called an ascent stage from Eagle Lander – this stage carried them back to Columbia, their orbiting command module, where NASA engineers assumed it would eventually crash onto lunar surface, however independent researcher James Meador believes it may still be up there somewhere.
The ascent stage sat atop of the descent stage and housed a crew cabin, life support systems and flight controls for Armstrong and Aldrin to use during their two and half day lunar mission. When returning home after two and a half days on the moon, Armstrong and Aldrin entered Columbia’s module for rendezvous; once outside they quickly exchanged greetings before quickly getting into their lunar buggy and heading off homeward.
Once they had verified the Eagle’s systems, Armstrong and Aldrin embarked on their inaugural moonwalk. Spending almost two hours collecting samples while also deploying devices designed to measure solar wind speed, seismic activity and the amount of water in lunar soil; reading plaques declaring “In Peace for all Mankind”, reading plaques proclaiming their landing “In Peace For All Humanity” while taking pictures with US flags as backdrops was all part of their experience.
Armstrong and Aldrin then used the LM’s ascent engine to enter lunar orbit, spending 2.5 days before returning home on July 24 and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Hawaii – for which they were quarantined for 21 days to prevent spreading any potentially contagious diseases back onto Earth.
The astronauts had left behind plenty of items on the moon, such as emesis (poop) bags, nail clippers, wet wipes and various food systems. Additionally, they left behind their Apollo 11 mission patch as a tribute to late astronaut Clifton Williams and an altar bible on their lunar module dashboard dashboard.
Meador suspects that the Apollo 11 ascent stage may still be up there in space in some form; it could still be degraded, though Meador believes it has reached an inert state and won’t disintegrate anytime soon.
Is the Apollo 11 ascent stage still orbiting the moon?
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made history when they set foot on the Moon for the first time in 1969, taking more than just “One Small Step.” During their brief spacewalk they carried out scientific and engineering experiments, deployed flagpoles, set up flags for reading an inscription plaques, collected soil samples from surrounding regions, spoke with President Richard Nixon as well as taking photographs and video recordings of their surroundings.
As soon as their work on the lunar surface was complete, Armstrong and Aldrin returned to Columbia, their command module from Eagle Lander, in orbit. Once back inside Columbia they released an ascent stage designed to propel astronauts upward, with NASA engineers expecting it to collide with lunar surface sometime later.
Christopher Meador of Penn State believes otherwise. He tracked the ascent stage using software called General Mission Analysis Tool that allows for mapping spacecraft trajectories around planets and moons; his findings were published on arXiv, which serves as a preprint server for studies that have not been peer-reviewed yet.
Meador’s calculations suggest that the ascent stage may be located more than 78 miles (125 kilometers) above the lunar surface. Unfortunately, radar cannot reach this height; however, four 2-hour observation sessions should suffice in pinpointing this significant piece of Apollo equipment.
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which circumnavigates the Moon, has photographed each of Apollo 11’s landing sites – with only the one exception where its American flag may have been knocked over by exhaust from its engine as it lifted off.
Meador’s theory stems from Apollo 11 being designed as an experimental mission with two backup plans for when something went wrong with the main capsule – which would have returned them home – upon landing. He used computer simulation to show that, at landing time, enough fuel remained for the LM’s ascent engine to get into an orbit that could be reached by its command module.
Is the Apollo 11 ascent stage still on the moon?
Humans have gazed upon the Moon since ancient times with longing, hoping one day to set foot upon it. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans ever to do this when they made history by landing on its surface on Apollo 11 mission in 1969 – watched by over 525 million viewers worldwide on television and leading to five other moon landings and expanding our understanding of our nearest celestial body.
Eagle was their lunar lander of choice and consisted of two parts. The gold-and-black descent stage used a rocket engine to slow and drop them into lunar orbit while Armstrong and Aldrin lived, worked, ate, and rested during their 21.5 hours on the lunar surface.
Once in lunar orbit, the astronauts used their descent engine to begin the descent towards the Sea of Tranquillity. Their path was guided by radar images transmitted back from Eagle’s onboard sensors as well as by computer programs developed by NASA and others that allow users to simulate any gravitational environment.
After Eagle had reached a point 14.5 kilometers from the surface of the moon, Armstrong and Aldrin undocked their LM and began its descent toward its landing site – in particular the Sea of Tranquillity. Once they hit Earth’s surface Armstrong assumed control of his semi-manual landing device to guide it safely into place in its final destination – the Sea of Tranquillity.
After landing, they conducted a checklist to make sure their spacecraft was safe for return home. Their flight plan required four hours of rest after landing; however, due to excitement they opted against this and instead conducted a short system checkup of LM.
Armstrong and Aldrin collected 21.6 kilograms of samples during their lunar mission and deployed various pieces of science hardware – such as the laser reflector still functioning today thanks to lasers beamed from Earth – including one which remains operational today.
Is the Apollo 11 ascent stage still visible on the moon?
The Apollo 11 mission marked humanity’s inaugural landing on the moon, fulfilling President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 goal of sending astronauts there by the end of that decade. Neil Armstrong took steps onto lunar soil on 21 July 1969, proclaiming it one small step for man but one giant leap for mankind as 20 kilograms of rock and soil were brought back home and inspiring five more moon landings by 1970; furthermore it laid the groundwork for space exploration with launches such as Space Shuttle Discovery recently taking place.
After landing, Armstrong and Aldrin spent 21 hours collecting samples of lunar dust, rocks, and cosmic debris before performing a comprehensive checklist to make sure their spacecraft would make its journey home in good condition. After being sent into orbit by Michael Collins’ command module they soon rendezvoused back with Armstrong and Aldrin at Earth.
NASA engineers had assumed that after jettisoning an ascent stage, it would eventually crash back down to Earth’s surface – however new research indicates it may have achieved inert state and continue its journey around lunar orbit.
The ascent stage was intended for 10-day missions and little consideration was given to long-term reliability. Because of this, fuel leakage may occur and cause the engine to lose power during reentry, forcing crewmembers to manually control engines during reentry.
Once they were back inside their LM, they initiated a 30-second descent orbit insertion burn to reduce speed. This maneuver brought their perilune close to within 50,000 feet (15 km).
Armstrong and Aldrin were delighted to discover a flag planted by astronauts of their previous mission visible through an opened window of their Lunar Module (LM). Climbing out, they read a plaque which stated their mission had come in peace for all humanity before planting their American flag themselves.
As they worked, LM’s television camera captured footage of the astronauts working and the surrounding area as captured by flag’s television camera – it remains as the only known footage from the Moon and serves as a timeless record of humanity’s historic first step onto another planet.