Comments on: Moon facts at your fingertips http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/moon-facts-at-your-fingertips A Clear Voice for Science Thu, 24 May 2012 03:59:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Bruce McClure http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/moon-facts-at-your-fingertips/comment-page-1#comment-548685 Bruce McClure Sat, 26 Mar 2011 14:09:33 +0000 http://208.96.63.114/?p=4014#comment-548685 Serpil, Sorry for my late response but I didn't see your inquiry until now. When the moon came closest to Earth on 2011 March 19, it was at zenith (straight overhead) over the Indian Ocean, at roughly 75 degrees east longitude and 4 degrees south latitude. That's south of India and fairly close to the Addu Atoll. Bruce Serpil,

Sorry for my late response but I didn’t see your inquiry until now. When the moon came closest to Earth on 2011 March 19, it was at zenith (straight overhead) over the Indian Ocean, at roughly 75 degrees east longitude and 4 degrees south latitude. That’s south of India and fairly close to the Addu Atoll.

Bruce

]]> By: serpil http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/moon-facts-at-your-fingertips/comment-page-1#comment-546592 serpil Fri, 18 Mar 2011 20:58:52 +0000 http://208.96.63.114/?p=4014#comment-546592 19 march 2011 the moon is the closest to earth.I want to know which countries will be the closest to the moon.. 19 march 2011 the moon is the closest to earth.I want to know which countries will be the closest to the moon..

]]> By: Bruce McClure http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/moon-facts-at-your-fingertips/comment-page-1#comment-73844 Bruce McClure Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:09:27 +0000 http://208.96.63.114/?p=4014#comment-73844 Sorry, Alex, but this question is beyond my capability to answer. I know that spacecraft sent out to planets follow a curved elliptical orbit around the sun, so as to minimize on fuel consumption. Check out the diagram at http://www.astrosociety.org/education/publications/tnl/34/space3.html. Sorry, Alex, but this question is beyond my capability to answer. I know that spacecraft sent out to planets follow a curved elliptical orbit around the sun, so as to minimize on fuel consumption. Check out the diagram at http://www.astrosociety.org/education/publications/tnl/34/space3.html.

]]> By: Alex Lacy http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/moon-facts-at-your-fingertips/comment-page-1#comment-73832 Alex Lacy Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:32:10 +0000 http://208.96.63.114/?p=4014#comment-73832 Great site!!...I have an astronomy question: Suppose we have a "perfect" spacecraft with the following properties: 1: infinite fuel with negligible mass 2: infinite power (or at least enough to take the following journey: The journey is halfway to Mars, with acceleration = G(9.80665 m/s2), as on Earth, and then braking to -G (after turning around). What is the shortest time this journey could take?...perhaps what you really want to do, though, is to gradually reduce this so that when you get to Mars, you're at Mars acceleration, and on the way back, increase the acceleration to Earths, so that passengers would experience the most gradual gravitational change. How much fuel would it take, using the best existing rocket fuel, and say, 10 Tons of spaceship mass?...is this totally outrageous? Great site!!…I have an astronomy question:

Suppose we have a “perfect” spacecraft with the following properties:

1: infinite fuel with negligible mass
2: infinite power (or at least enough to take the following journey:

The journey is halfway to Mars, with acceleration = G(9.80665 m/s2), as on Earth, and then braking to -G (after turning around). What is the shortest time this journey could take?…perhaps what you really want to do, though, is to gradually reduce this so that when you get to Mars, you’re at Mars acceleration, and on the way back, increase the acceleration to Earths, so that passengers would experience the most gradual gravitational change. How much fuel would it take, using the best existing rocket fuel, and say, 10 Tons of spaceship mass?…is this totally outrageous?

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