Lunar Flyby • Hacker News Board

Re: Lunar Flyby

#211

Post by shimman » Wed, Apr 08, 2026, 1:46 PM UTC

JKCalhoun wrote: post #62

Jblx2 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Defense LAPS every other budget category. I suppose it matters how you lump things, but for federal spending: - $678 B, Social Security - $478 B, Medicare - $425 B, Net Interest - $419 B, Health - $412 B, National Defense - $320 B, Income Security - $184 B, Veterans Benefits and Services - $75 B, Education, Training, Employment, and Social Services - $53 B, Transportation - $43 B, Administration of Justice - $15 B,…

Not all of those are discretionary spending? Maybe not equivalent to include, for example, Social Security.

It is relevant if you want to attack one of the greatest achievements of the new deal and hate working Americans.

Re: Lunar Flyby

#212

Post by sayYayToLife » Wed, Apr 08, 2026, 1:46 PM UTC

1shooner wrote: post #205

palata wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No no no no, I can't let that go. Sending astronauts around the moon has nothing to do with "knowing more about the moon". We don't need people up there to observe the moon. In fact, it's a lot easier and better to have sensors go there and automatically make measurements (e.g. pictures). Now thinking about Mars, sending astronauts there is actually a net negative for science because it risks contaminating Mars. We s…

This FAQ from the NASA website seemed particularly intellectually dishonest: >Why do we need astronauts to view the Moon when we have robotic observers? Human eyes and brains are highly sensitive to subtle changes in color, texture, and other surface characteristics. Having astronaut eyes observe the lunar surface directly, in combination with the context of all the advances that scientists have made about the Moon o…

[dead]

Re: Lunar Flyby

#213

Post by shimman » Wed, Apr 08, 2026, 1:46 PM UTC

jaspa99 wrote: post #199

ranger207 wrote: post #2

I have to admit, I've been an Artemis hater ($4 billion per launch lol) but the experience of watching people go back around the Moon has been incredibly inspiring, and it proves to me that maybe we can still do hard things

Those $4 billion per launch are about 9 hours of entitlement spending (social security & health programs).

Why is entitlement spending bad? Do you think the government should only give welfare to corporations and not people?

Re: Lunar Flyby

#214

Post by philistine » Wed, Apr 08, 2026, 2:10 PM UTC

sgt wrote: post #167

Gagarin1917 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The existing 16mm film from Apollo is roughly equivalent to 2K, and you can see dust kicked up pretty nicely!

Where can we see that in high quality? Generally if I look at YouTube it's compressed and poor quality.

They never shot 16mm film on the moon. They had weird tv cameras and took photos in 35mm.

Re: Lunar Flyby

#215

Post by cdelsolar » Wed, Apr 08, 2026, 2:13 PM UTC

LorenDB wrote: post #23

I think my favorite of all these images is https://www.nasa.gov/image-detail/amf-art002e009287/ . The sheer size difference, while simply a trick of perspective, makes Earth feel tiny and insignificant.

My favorite too.. one of the most awe-inspiring pictures I've ever seen.

Re: Lunar Flyby

#216

Post by dbvn » Wed, Apr 08, 2026, 2:17 PM UTC

delta_p_delta_x wrote: post #17

ranger207 wrote: post #2

I have to admit, I've been an Artemis hater ($4 billion per launch lol) but the experience of watching people go back around the Moon has been incredibly inspiring, and it proves to me that maybe we can still do hard things

> $4 billion per launch This is not a lot of money on a nation-state scale. It's equal to giving every person in the US about US$12.

*taking* $12 from every person in the US... But I still think it's worth it.

Re: Lunar Flyby

#217

Post by beaconfield » Wed, Apr 08, 2026, 2:25 PM UTC

_august wrote: post #4

Are full size/larger images available somewhere? 1920x1280px seems low. Edit: Found 'em: https://images.nasa.gov/search?page=1&media=image&yearStart=...

thank you

Re: Lunar Flyby

#218

Post by hydrogen7800 » Wed, Apr 08, 2026, 2:37 PM UTC

dylan604 wrote: post #31

I listened to pretty much the entire fly by yesterday, and I was imagining how I would have spent my time at the windows with a camera. Listening to the comms made me think of that episode from From The Earth to the Moon where they take the astronauts out and give them geology lessons so they could be more productive with their descriptions. I was also very curious of their descriptions during the eclipse where the E…

>that episode from From The Earth to the Moon where they take the astronauts out and give them geology lessons so they could be more productive with their descriptions.

My favorite episode of the series and I was thinking of it during Integrity's flyby.

Re: Lunar Flyby

#219

Post by ge96 » Wed, Apr 08, 2026, 2:50 PM UTC

sph wrote: post #146

typeofhuman wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might like this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_effect

I can experience it just by watching these pictures, I cannot imagine how intense it must be for astronauts.

It's a movie but I felt it in 2001 Space Odyssey when they show the transition of the bone to space exploration

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpvOUnz4T7Q

Re: Lunar Flyby

#220

Post by kshacker » Wed, Apr 08, 2026, 3:12 PM UTC

eterm wrote: post #63

kshacker wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it 2-way? I guess moon see all around earth, or no?

Consider what it'd mean if there were parts of the Earth that could not be seen from the moon, it would also mean those locations could never themselves see the moon. Ignoring the orbital period implications, I think it'd be bigger news if either US or Europe, or Asia couldn't ever actually see the moon.

This is the best ELI5 explanation I have heard. Thanks !