Thursday 20 September 2012

Moon Landing Pt. I

Ever since July 20th 1969, we have looked at space travel in a completely different light. When Buzz and Neil touched down for the very first time on the surface of the moon, we have never looked back. From that point on, space has taken a different dynamic and we are motivated as ever to explore even further into the realms of the cosmos. Since then, there has been 6 manned-landings on the moon and many more unmanned.


The landing on the moon was an amazing feat of science and engineering. Many people take for granted the effort that went into the planning and finance of funding such an escapade. The physics behind it, was a serious matter for concern. During the 60's we were working with the Newtonian theory of gravity, where Isaac newton tried to explain the mechanics of gravity. This piece of mathematics was good enough for NASA and other space enthusiasts agencies to use this instead of the more modern theory of gravity or in other words, Einstein's theory of general relativity, as that theory had not been properly confirmed at the time. 

 Fig.1 The launch Pad for the Apollo rocket, with Neil, Buzz and Michael.
Credit: NASA Archives

Einstein's theory only corrected a few small calculations of Newtons theory. But Newton was actually still good enough to utilize it as a viable mathematical model for space travel. In the short distance to moon, in relative to the solar system and especially the galaxy. The errors in Newtonian gravity were quite small. But would build up over time and distance. Thus explaining the accuracy of the moon landing. But with Einstein, space travel has been more accurate for Mars missions and reconnaissance Satellites that are still traveling 1,000,000's of miles away from home. One that comes to mind is the Voyager I, leaving the periphery of our solar system and entering interstellar territory.

2 comments:

  • Anonymous says:
    23 September 2012 at 07:35

    That's one small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind :)

  • Anonymous says:
    25 September 2012 at 14:27

    Good. For one moment I believed that you were one of those conspiracy goons. But you are actually a legit blogger. :-D

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