Just been reading the Apollo 11 30th anniversary website which states ''on july 20th 1969 humankind acomplished its greatest achievment when a human first set foot on another celestial body at 4.17pm eastern daylight time ( with less than 30 seconds of fuel remaining ) Neil A Armstrong took the small step on to the lunar surface'' now heres were I LOOK EXTREMELY STUPID if they landed on the moon with only 30 seconds of fuel remaining how did they blast off from the moon and re-join the lunar orbiter ? were they able to re-fuel on the moon ? if not its certainly something to think about my apologies if this is a stupid question i look forward to your comments

30 seconds of fuel would be more that enough to break the low gravity of the moon....

Perhaps the engines and fuel for landing were separate from the engines and fuel used for lift-off. I am curious as to how an aborted landing would have been handled. O.K. I just found a nice diagram of the LEM over on Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:LM_illustration_02.jpg

This post has been edited by Layman: Apr 13 2008, 01:02 PM

The lunar module was a two-stage rocket. The bottom stage with the legs was called the descent stage, the top with the crew cabin was called the ascent stage. Each had its own independent propulsion system and fuel supply. It was in the descent stage that there was only 30 seconds' worth of fuel. In the ascent stage, the fuel had not been touched, and the tanks were thus still full. On leaving the lunar surface, the ascent stage was seperated from the descent stage when the bolts connecting the two were severed by pyrotechnic charges. The ascent stage was then free to rise from the descent stage.

Thanks Andrew yeah i know stupid question lol

The only stupid question is the one you didn't ask Oskar, thats how we learne.

Cheers Dundee

As Dundee said mate there is no stupidity in asking a question....

thanks again guys

yeh man,its the stupid ones that don't ask questions.we all know something,but no one of us knows everything...innit!

Indeed. There are no stupid questions. Just stupid people. (I'm kidding.)

The capsule is basically 3 parts. When the astronauts were to land on the moon they all piled out of the main capsule and into what is called the lander. When they were over where they wanted to land they disconnected from the main capsule and and landed on the moon as the capsule continued to orbit around the moon. They did their thing, then they climbed back into the lander and took off to intercept the orbiting capsule. If you notice when they lifted off from the moon the legs stayed to help save weight, thus help with maneuvering to attach back to the orbiting capsule. They climbed back into the main capsule. Very simple, but ingenious.

This post has been edited by JDorfler: May 1 2008, 10:29 PM

When Apollo 11 was desending to the moon, they had to fire the rockets to cut speed, and turn to hit the correct landing place. This is the fuel that was 30 seconds from being used up. When they took off, the bottom area of the module (which had the rockets it used to land) was left on the moon. They took off with differant rockets to leave the moon and connect to the orbiting space craft for their journey home. These rockets had a different fuel supply.

I found a dead horse on the beach. I picked up a piece of driftwood, and proceeded to pummel and beat the dead horse until it I had no doubt in my mind that it was indeed dead.

must of been a Seahorse,then senhuan.i prefer to flog a dead parrot,but i get your point.

Cheers guys i think my question has been well and truly answered

This post has been edited by oskar: Jun 2 2008, 03:14 AM

no problem,anytime oskar!

I have a follow-up question. I am an amatuer photographer....with 30yrs of experience in 'outdoor photography'. I have sold a few to National magazines.

If you watch carefully, the module lift-off, you will see something amazing. As the craft rises up and away from the Lunar surface, watch the camera angle. The camera PANS to keep the module in the frame. Now....I was born at night...but not last night.

WHO panned that video camera? Is it possible that someone in the capsule was using a remote to keep the camera fairly centered on the rising module.......while their butt was puckering at lift-off? Does NASA have a 'self-panning' automatic camera? Does this even exist? I have never heard of an automatic self-panning video camera. I certainly do not see one available in 1969.

Bud

This post has been edited by Bud: Jun 2 2008, 11:39 AM

You know Bud thats a good observation anyone any ideas ?

yes,they didn't leave the moon they left MGN studios.