Post #1064320

2026-04-06 15:39 UTC

@_thegeoff I keep hearing reporters say that "no human eye has seen the far side before." Umm, wait a minute there. The Apollo program featured TEN (correction: NINE) missions that orbited the Moon. Do these folks seriously mean to say that in all of those lunar missions, the crewmember left in Moon orbit during the mission NEVER ONCE LOOKED OUT THE CSM WINDOW while passing over the far side? That seems rather unlikely...

Replies (3)

@_thegeoff@mastodon.social 2026-04-06 15:42

@n1xnx *facepalm* The thing that annoys me the most about this kind of reporting is it shows zero respect for the achievements of the Apollo era.

Open ##1456213
@edavies@functional.cafe 2026-04-06 17:30

@n1xnx NINE, even if you count 13 which didn't orbit the Moon as such though it did pass over the far side, of course. 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. 7 & 9 were both Earth orbit only. 7 testing the CSM in Earth orbit, 9 testing the LM similarly. @_thegeoff

Open ##1456219
@BRicker@fosstodon.org 2026-04-06 23:14

@n1xnx @_thegeoff TBQF, this mission is going at a different phase of the moon (which is to say from lunar point of view different solar season) and going around _much_ higher, so *yes* they will see things Apollo didn't see. This mission _will_ see most of the poles which have only been seen with cameras. (Apollo landings occurred with moon around quarter phase to have a low sun providing contrast to the relief, both for pilot and to recognize waypoints when hiking.)

Open ##1456223