And Now For Something Completely Different: I'm A Space Nerd

in #apollo10 months ago

This is a value for value post: see the explanation in the footer.


I'm a space nerd. I've got piles of technical books on space flight and I can't help but watch every video that drops in my feed on YouTube and elsewhere about rockets.

But one that popped up recently was this original post-flight press conference with the astronauts of Apollo 13 and if you have seen the film Apollo 13, you'll know the story. Apollo 13 was the mission which famously "had a problem" on the way to the moon.

Watching this video I was struck by how obvious it is that this material served as the basis for a great deal of the specifics of the film Apollo 13. The dialogue in the film which took place over the radio between the spaceship and mission control was placed into the movie pretty much word for word. That I knew.

But what I learned from this press conference was just how much of the background details came from things spoken about it in this press conference.

The press were different

At around 43m the video moves to questions from reporters in the room and what strikes me is how many of the questions display a significant grasp of some quite technical details of both the flight and the specific problems which caused them to "lose the moon". I just can't help but compare it to today's universally dumb reporting from the mainstream media.

And another thing:

Apollo 13 splashed down on April 17, 1970. The exact time of the splashdown was 18:07:41 UTC.

This press conference happened on the 21st of April, barely 4 days later! The fact finding mission and reports which arrived at a reasonable explanation of what caused the problem were completed fast enough to keep the rest of the Apollo missions on track.

In other news, Elon Musk

And of course, I just have to record here for posterity that last night Elon Musk liked one of my tweets. I don't expect anyone to care but I do. And the tweet he liked was a picture of @seaexplorer which I wasn't able to tweet about last summer because I was largely off twitter!

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Great, I love space movies and guess what, I haven't watched Apollo 13. Will add it to my watchlist.

And Looks like Elon wanted you back on Twitter so that you could post the tweet he liked. It was all planned. Just like he already planned on how we are going to reach Mars. xD

And of course, I just have to record here for posterity that last night Elon Musk liked one of my tweets.

Your social credit score just went up a few points. Congrats.

Well, what can I say? I am also a space fan. I love the idea that humanity reaches out to the stars or even only to other planets or the moon. And there was barely a thing that united humanity in a positive way as the landing on the moon.

I've followed space news since I was a kid starting not long after that happened. I remember the US-USSR linkup as we watched it live at school back in 1975. The Apollo programme all happened relatively quickly and they achieved a lot in that time. If 13 had ended worse I wonder if they would have carried on. It is amazing that no human has been to the Moon since that time, but there are plans to go back, so I hope to see it happen. I'm surprised Musk hasn't done it already to trump NASA.

It is amazing that no human has been to the Moon since that time

Haven't you heard NASA destroyed the technology to go to the moon?

Yeah, right. Obviously all the engineers forgot how to do it.

"...a significant grasp of some quite technical details of both the flight and the specific problems which caused them to "lose the moon". I just can't help but compare it to today's universally dumb reporting from the mainstream media."

This must have been back when they had integrity. Now it's all about sensationalism and how many eyes you can get on your advertising.

Man, a like from Elon is pretty legit.

I'll have to say, I haven't been back on Hive very long but I'm glad I found your blog. Keep up the good work.

I care that he also got to like your tweet, I think it's a win, how knows, the algorithm might keep suggesting your tweets to him and maybe a potential follow. Hahaha.

I was pretty chuffed by Elon liking your tweet, especially as I had just defended his honour on Hive from the "debunking Elon" post by @acesontop.

I haven't seen the movie yet but the way you describe it is very interesting and I am very interested in how people will go to live on the moon. What a new experience there will be to learn so much. I also follow you on twitter and it's great that the richest man brave and intelligent man in the world who has likes your tweet.

Space movies look really cool and sciencey. So I like watching these movies. Elon Musk liked your tweet, that's really cool.

Space movies are always great because there is always a lot of experience and things to learn from which I find very much exciting about. It's really great to see Elon appreciating what you post on Twitter by liking and I would say that is huge in some part.

I have heard of the movie but am not sure if I have watched it before but however space movies are always very interesting watch.

I haven't seen the Apollo 13 movie but I am pleased to know the movie captured the details given at the post-flight press conference.

So much for the mainstream media these days, they should learned from how these folks were able to capture such amount of details in the space of four days... Amazing job right there I must confess.

Congratulations on getting your tweet liked by Elon Musk. It's a big deal to me so I am happy for you. 🎉🎉🎉

Space, the final frontier! Only if humanity will stop fighting with each other and simply try to build a better future and break boundaries.

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