[viepedorlella]

Me too. Like I said, I am sure that I got it wrong there somehow. I would hope that those prints stay there for thousands of years.

Besides, the world ends this December, so it is all academic after that anyway

Are there other erosion mechanisms? Solar wind? Electrostatic charging?

[verybigf]

Besides, the world ends this December, so it is all academic after that anyway

The world actually ended January 1st, 2001... but everyone was too hung over to notice

I stole that from someone... maybe Pratchett.

[12Jasoumemoobia]

http://apple.copydesk.org/2012/08/25...kages-tonight/

[Grainiary]

http://apple.copydesk.org/2012/08/25...kages-tonight/

Excellent.



They were there, doing stuff, rather than posing

[wrefrinny]

> Dude could land on a rock blindfolded with 10 secs of fuel left and not have a pulse rate above 50.

Possibly because Buzz Aldrin did the landing.

[Marlboro-oroblraM]

> Dude could land on a rock blindfolded with 10 secs of fuel left and not have a pulse rate above 50.

Possibly because Buzz Aldrin did the landing.

Heart rates as a passenger would probably be higher (everyone has control issues)

[OlegSan]

> Possibly because Buzz Aldrin did the landing.

"Landing
When Armstrong again looked outside, he saw that the computer's landing target was in a boulder-strewn area just north and east of a 300 metres (980 ft) diameter crater (later determined to be "West crater", named for its location in the western part of the originally planned landing ellipse). Armstrong took semi-automatic control and, with Aldrin calling out altitude and velocity data, landed at 20:17 UTC on July 20 with about 25 seconds of fuel left."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11

[egoldhyip]

> At this point KJW or Mollwollfumble could step in and correct my guesses, but until then, I will assume that it collects dust at around a tenth that of Earth. My dodgy maths makes that about 1.8mm/year, therefore about 55 years till the footprints are obscured.

Have to be a lower dust accumulation rate than that or over the past 3.8 billion years the dust would have accumulated to a depth of roughly, um well, quite deep. Three factors I probably want to keep in mind:
1. Meteorite bombardment rate
2. Daytime dust suspension and settling
3. Vacuum welding

The first and third together suggest that the footprints would stay there for more than 100 million years. The daytime dust suspension (electrostatic) would only work for very small grains.

[flowersnewacq]

> At this point KJW or Mollwollfumble could step in and correct my guesses, but until then, I will assume that it collects dust at around a tenth that of Earth. My dodgy maths makes that about 1.8mm/year, therefore about 55 years till the footprints are obscured.

Have to be a lower dust accumulation rate than that or over the past 3.8 billion years the dust would have accumulated to a depth of roughly, um well, quite deep. Three factors I probably want to keep in mind:
1. Meteorite bombardment rate
2. Daytime dust suspension and settling
3. Vacuum welding

The first and third together suggest that the footprints would stay there for more than 100 million years. The daytime dust suspension (electrostatic) would only work for very small grains.

I reject your reality, and substitute my own .

[nilliraq]

> 2. Daytime dust suspension and settling

Hi Mollwollfumble,

Can you please elaborate on the "daytime" aspect of this?

[Nadin Maison]

“For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.”
-From the Armstrong Family statement upon Neil Armstrong's death.

I just wandered out on the deck and tried to take in and understand just what that man achieved. After knowing what else the man achieved, there is no need to mourn; He did it all and lived a life that made human kind a better place. What a man. What a humble man.

[b7RKli4l]

I just wandered out on the deck and tried to take in and understand just what that man achieved. After knowing what else the man achieved, there is no need to mourn; He did it all and lived a life that made human kind a better place. What a man. What a humble man.

Indeed, I find it difficult to say anything about the man which isn't summed up by the thread title.

Everything discussed in this thread, from Armstrong's pre and post astronaut career, to his historic moon-walk, to his humble personality, to the questions he inspires about the universe we live in marks the man as a legend

One of the greats... *gone*

[tefraxKedWere]

Tranquility base here, Neil has landed here.

[Aeaefee]

There was a time it was unthinkable that there would be a living man who had walked on the Moon.

Soon enough, there will be no living man who has walked on the Moon.

That's sad.

[Fhgzmftq]

There was a time it was unthinkable that there would be a living man who had walked on the Moon.

Soon enough, there will be no living man who has walked on the Moon.

That's sad.

Not particularly.

Move on, to somewhere more useful.

[tramdoctorsss]

April 12, 1961: Yuri Gagarin: First man in space.

8 Years later in July we have Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin the first men on the Moon.

Just 66 years before that, the Wright Brothers flew the first aeroplane.

A fairly daunting Century with some great men that all contributed.

"On the Shoulders of Giants"

[Sttim]

April 12, 1961: Yuri Gagarin: First man in space.

8 Years later in July we have Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin the first men on the Moon.

Just 66 years before that, the Wright Brothers flew the first aeroplane.

A fairly daunting Century with some great men that all contributed.

"On the Shoulders of Giants"

And nine months prior to the Wright brothers, Richard Pearce 'also' flew the first areoplane.

[ButKnillinoi]

And nine months prior to the Wright brothers, Richard Pearce 'also' flew the first areoplane.

Maybe, maybe not...*shrug*



Richard William Pearse (3 December 1877 – 29 July 1953) was a New Zealand farmer and inventor who performed pioneering experiments in aviation.
It is claimed Pearse flew and landed a powered heavier-than-air machine on 31 March 1903, some nine months before the Wright brothers flew their aircraft.[1] The documentary evidence to support such a claim remains open to interpretation, and Pearse did not develop his aircraft to the same degree as the Wright brothers, who achieved sustained controlled flight.[2] Pearse himself never made such claims, and in an interview he gave to the Timaru Post in 1909 only claimed he did not "attempt anything practical...until 1904". [3]



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Pearse

[NeroASERCH]

A tragic loss.

[eljugadordepoquer]

A big loss, but then considering age its not totally unexpected.