Recently in interesting stuff Category
The previous post lead me to the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, a fascinating archive of transcripts and audio/visual materials from the Apollo lunar missions. Very cool stuff - I can see myself losing a few hours there!
Isha sent me a link to The Relativity of Simultaneity, which is an interesting piece on the effects of the finite speed of light on our perception of the sequence of events. Of particular interest is a re-working of the conversation between the Apollo 11 astronauts and Mission Control in Houston during the final moments of the LEM's descent to the lunar surface.
Listening to the re-worked audio, it occurred to me that the creator actually has his math a little wrong. He's delayed Mission Control's transmissions by about 1.25 seconds to allow for the time it took those words to get to the moon, but has failed to allow for the fact that the astronauts' words, as received and recorded on Earth, had actually been spoken a further 1.25 seconds earlier. Thus to my way of thinking, he needs delay Mission Control by about 2.5 seconds rather than only 1.25. That would make Armstrong's hesitation even more understandable, as CAPCOM's words would have arrived just as he started to speak.
I've written to the page's creator, and will update if/when he writes back.
Listening to the re-worked audio, it occurred to me that the creator actually has his math a little wrong. He's delayed Mission Control's transmissions by about 1.25 seconds to allow for the time it took those words to get to the moon, but has failed to allow for the fact that the astronauts' words, as received and recorded on Earth, had actually been spoken a further 1.25 seconds earlier. Thus to my way of thinking, he needs delay Mission Control by about 2.5 seconds rather than only 1.25. That would make Armstrong's hesitation even more understandable, as CAPCOM's words would have arrived just as he started to speak.
I've written to the page's creator, and will update if/when he writes back.
