Moon Landings: Did They Happen or Not?

[Brewer]

Perhaps the Consortium is so happy with Trump et al., that they will allow for the entire Artemis mission to the moon to proceed as scheduled :

They need permission? Did Apollo need permission from this consortium? Did they help by mitigating some some of the hazards, CMEs VABs etc? I assume that all space faring nations have this permission. Columbia happened during the Soviet era so they would've known about the 3/4th-density Consortium's actions and other actions previous to that. The Russian Federation and Roscosmos would be aware too. It'd be very interesting to see what sort of currency they use. I'd imagine fakery is something the 3/4th-density Consortium would demand as payment. Maybe the blood of an occasional astronaut too.

Close-up footage of the Artemis launch, as seen from a nearby passenger plane:

I thought they created no-fly corridors during launches? If there was a rocket malfunction that plane could've been toast.

Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station operate under strictly enforced, temporary no-fly zones and designated launch corridors, which are managed by the FAA in coordination with the U.S. Space Force to ensure safety during rocket launches.
Launch Corridors and No-Fly Zones

• Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs): Airspace is not permanently closed, but TFRs are issued per-launch, closing areas for roughly three hours.
• Designated Corridors: Launches utilize specific "launch corridors" with defined "destruct lines" to ensure debris stays within safe zones if a vehicle fails.
• Range Safety: Before launch, surrounding airspace and sea areas are evacuated to accommodate the launch corridor and its associated risk zones.
• Range Size: Depending on the rocket, these zones can be extensive, with Falcon Heavy launches having a downrange hazard area extending up to 1,300 nautical miles.

That plane appears dangerously close, part of the 30%?

It's been 54 years since anyone went to the Moon. Why return now? Or rather, why'd they stop going?

Might be part of some ritual, be interesting to ask. April fools day is an interesting choice!
I've had the occasional glance at the live feed, anyone seen any stars? If my cheap android was there it'd capture a few dozen in this scene without even trying.

 

[Wandering Star]

It's been 54 years since anyone went to the Moon. Why return now? Or rather, why'd they stop going?

Perhaps the epic cowboys who save the world in a thousand movies will find something on the far side of the moon that will be broadcast live on TV.

In any case, it'll be a good use of fuel that will help everyone (sarcasm, just in case).

 

[T.C.]

I've had the occasional glance at the live feed, anyone seen any stars? If my cheap android was there it'd capture a few dozen in this scene without even trying.

Ugh, they forgot to put the stars in again What a set of idiots.

 

[Gaby]

I hate those famous last words:

Moon Mission: Upgrade

The maneuver of moving the spacecraft into a translunar orbit has been completed. The spacecraft passed at an altitude of about 200 km above the Earth (perhaps even above the astronauts' homes) and at the lowest point, turning on the engines for 6 minutes, finally went on a flight to the Moon. The rest of the mission's trajectory is based solely on the gravity of the Earth and the Moon, meaning that instead of engines, the laws of nature (gravity) will control the ship for the next 9 days. Since they are not prone to failures, no matter what happens during the flight, no matter what problems the crew may have, the ship itself will return to Earth in 9 days, which, of course, will not mean its successful landing. There are still many difficulties and nerves ahead.

The maximum approach to the Moon at a distance of about 10 thousand kilometers will take place on April 6-7, that is, next Monday or Tuesday.

 

[Third_Density_Resident]

I've had the occasional glance at the live feed, anyone seen any stars? If my cheap android was there it'd capture a few dozen in this scene without even trying.

That's probably because even cheap phones these days automatically use HDR (high dynamic range). They combine several images taken at various exposures so that both very bright and darker objects are exposed correctly into a single image. The NASA image you screenshotted for some reason used a single-exposure, non-HDR video, and because the rocket is much brighter than background stars, the exposure was set to correctly expose only for the most important part of the image, which is the rocket. The stars would be too dim to show up at that exposure. As an experienced outdoor hobby photographer who has used various DSLR cameras, this is an issue that came up all the time, however I used to use exposure bracketing (which is like manual HDR) to overcome it.

 

[Gaby]

This is also the X-hour for the European Space Agency (ESA), which manufactured this service module at the request of NASA. One can imagine the tension that both the leadership and the ESA engineers are currently experiencing.

I leave here a humble video in recognition of the nerds. Direct quote from the video: Europe is driving