[meteorite-list] [OT-ish] "From the Earth to the Moon"

From: Rob McCafferty <rob_mccafferty_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2007 05:34:14 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <928711.1039.qm_at_web50910.mail.re2.yahoo.com>

This miniseries made it to the UK, I forget which
channel, it may even have bee satellite. I didn't see
them all but I did see a lot of it and it was
brilliant, especially for someone who is fascinated by
it but missed all the fun (only a baby at 34).
I think my ZX Spectrum from 1983 probably had more
computer power than the Mission control. I had the
good fortune to discuss this with Bo Bobka last year
(First pilot of Discovery and worked on the Skylab
programme. Was working behind the scenes during
Apollo). Those guys like to make as much as they can
of how little computer input they had but I think they
overstress it.
Sophistication isn't necessary. You have a specialised
computer for a specialised job. It may have had little
power but it was superb at all it had to do.
As I put it, "if all you need to do is add up, pebbles
are fine". (I believe pebble is the translation of
abacus, incidentally)

However, out of the deep respect I have for Bobko ,
who has achieved far more than I ever will, I did not
stress my case to hard.

As an aside, I bought the book "Apollo: The epic
journey to the Moon" by David West Reynolds. It's a
cracking read with plenty of eyecandy pics. Some of
the open out panoramas are jaw dropping.
>From a non-American point of view, it's a bit "wave
the flag" sickly but I draw comfort that despite all
the pride in the achievement and communism doesn't
work rhetoric contained within, the book is printed in
China!

I hope the author appreciates the irony.

Rob McC
--- Notkin <geoking at notkin.net> wrote:

> Dear Listees:
>
> I wonder how many of you have seen the HBO
> mini-series "From the Earth
> to the Moon," which was produced by Tom Hanks back
> in 1998.
>
> It is a 12-episode drama recounting the history of
> the Apollo space
> program. The show is somewhat similar in production
> values to Ron
> Howard's excellent film "Apollo 13," and does a fine
> job of recreating
> the late 1960s, Mission Control, and so on. Looking
> back at those
> exciting times sitting here in the 21st Century, it
> is all the more
> astonishing that we were able to put pilots on the
> Moon with what,
> today, seems like primitive technology. I think my
> little Apple laptop
> is more powerful than the whole Mission Control
> guidance computer : )
>
> I watched the series on DVD, from Netflix, and found
> it to be most
> engaging, but you do have to sit through a couple of
> mediocre episodes.
> Of particular interest to List members will be
> Episode 10, "Galileo was
> Right." It follows the crew of Apollo 15 as they are
> trained in field
> geology in California and Arizona (no Meteor Crater,
> unfortunately),
> and the subsequent exploration of lunar craters and
> Hadley Rille by
> Lunar Rover during their mission. Pretty much a case
> of meteorite
> hunting on the surface of the Moon!
>
> Astronaut/geologist Harrison "Jack" Schmitt is
> featured in Episodes 10
> and 12. That was a treat, as a number of us had the
> pleasure of meeting
> Jack when he was guest of honor at the Westward Look
> Resort thanks to
> Al Lang, Bob Haag, and colleagues who arranged his
> speaking engagement
> during the 2005 Tucson show.
>
> Episode 5, "Spider," which details the development
> of the Lunar Module
> was the other stand-out episode for me.
>
> Definitely a 9 out of 10 show:
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120570
>
>
> Regards to all,
>
> Geoff N.
>
> www.aerolite.org
>
> ______________________________________________
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>
http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>



 
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Received on Fri 06 Apr 2007 08:34:14 AM PDT