Recording the race to the moon
Jodrell Bank has released previously unheard audio recordings from the days leading up to the Moon landing of Armstrong and Aldrin.
The huge British radio telescope was tracking the Eagle lander as it approached the lunar surface.
At the same time Jodrell Bank scientists were also tracking the Russian unmanned Luna 15 which was trying to land on the Moon, collect some soil and then return to Earth to claim the glory from the Apollo mission.
Alas for the USSR, Luna 15 crashed into its target - just a few hours before the Americans lifted off.
In the audio, which you can find here, you can hear Sir Bernard Lovell - founder of the Jodrell Bank Observatory - narrating events.
As the Russian probe goes kablam, you can here a voice remarking, as only an Englishman can: "I say, this has really been drama of the highest order."
Weird Science Factoid: Forest fires move faster uphill than downhill. Hopefully this will never prove to be useful...
Join the Weird Science Facebook group here, or follow us on Twitter here or by searching for weirdsciblog.
Want to be sent the 'best' of the Weird Sci Blog every month? Then sign up for Weird News - a newsletter containing more info about the subjects we cover, plus some extra stuff that didn't make the blog. Interested? Subscribe by e-mailing wscience@me.com with the title 'count me in' and we'll do the rest.
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Recording the race to the moon.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://blogs.sundaymercury.net/cgi-bin/mt421/mt-tb.cgi/138528
Authors
Daniel Smith - a long time ago, in a galaxy far away just north of Watford, Daniel fancied himself as a scientist but turned out to be the worst scientist since that bloke who mapped out all those canals on Mars that turned out to be scratches on his telescope's lens. Luckily, he is now not working on the Large Hadron Collider inadvertently creating a black hole that would swallow the world but is safely behind a desk writing this blog, bringing you the fantastical underbelly of nature... weird science.
Leave a comment