The take-off unit of the Apollo 11 moon ferry could still revolve around the Moon, according to researcher James Meador of the University of California, Caltech. Meador ran his simulations several times using different parameters, taking into account, for example, the gravitational field from the Sun or other planets, as well as radiation from the Sun.
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According to Meador’s upload to the arXiv server, an online repository of scientific research, he found evidence of this in his research, read PhysOrg scientific dissemination portal.
NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin successfully landed on the moon in 1969. After spending more than 21 hours on the surface, they boarded again with the takeoff unit (AS) that is part of the Eagle moon ferry. They soon connected to the command module that transported them back to Earth. Before they returned, the takeoff unit was released into space.
NASA engineers assumed it would crash back to the moon’s surface over time.
However, Meador reports that this has not happened and the AS is actually still orbiting the celestial body.
At the beginning of his investigations, the expert wanted to find out if it was possible to find the takeoff unit that he assumed was on the surface of the Moon.In 2012, NASA sent a space probe into orbit around the Moon as part of the GRAIL project to map the gravitational field of the celestial body. Meador considered that the location of AS’s arrival on the Moon could be determined by NASA’s general mission analysis tool (General Mission Analysis Tool) to track the trajectory of a spacecraft around planets or moons with knowledge of the gravitational field.
Meador ran his simulations several times using different parameters, taking into account, for example, the gravitational field from the Sun or other planets, as well as radiation from the Sun.
The researcher acknowledges that other factors may even have led to the destruction of the take-off unit, such as the remaining fuel that could explode during the descent, thereby changing its trajectory.
He added that if NASA decides to locate the AS, the technology to do so will be available if it is actually orbiting the Moon.
(MTI)
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