Is Apollo 11's Lunar Module Still In Orbit Around The Moon 52 Years Later?

Channel:
United States Scott Manley
Subscribers:
1,680,000
Published on ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBHbLV7xEhc


Duration: 11:07
3,539,988 views
69,193

In 1969 Neil Armstrong announced a safe touchdown on the moon with the words 'The Eagle has Landed'. "Eagle" was the name of the Lunar Module, the spacecraft which carried Neil and Buzz to the surface of the moon. After they walked on the surface of the moon they flew the Eagle back into orbit, docked with the Columbia command module and undocked the Eagle, leaving it in orbit while Columbia returned to Earth.
Most spacecraft in lunar orbit suffer from instability in their orbits due to the 'lumpy' nature of the lunar gravity which tends to cause the orbits to eventually get so elliptical that they hit the moon.
However, an amateur space fan wanted to narrow down the possible impact location and used orbit modelling software to propagate the orbit forwards in time until it hit the moon. He was surprised to find that it didn't hit the moon, and remained in a stable orbit for decades, this suggests that the Eagle may still be orbiting the moon over 5 decades after being left there.

Here's the paper:
Long-term Orbit Stability of the Apollo 11 Eagle Lunar Module Ascent Stage
James Meador
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032063321001434

And his github with the scripts for GMAT
https://github.com/RogerTwank/Eagle

And more information in the blog
https://snoopy.rogertwank.net/2020/09/has-eagle-landed.html

NASA's GMAT software:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/gmat/

The thread in Unmannedspaceflight.com showing processing of ingenuity images.
http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=8610&st=390&start=390

Seán Doran's youtube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC28l88GMXXqZYfY0Ru9h50w



Other Videos By Scott Manley


2021-08-21Jet Shoes, Zip Guns and Rocket Belts - How Astronauts Learned to Fly Around In Space.
2021-08-17Can The Human Body Handle Rotating Artificial Gravity?
2021-08-14Deep Space Questions - Episode 9 - Starship Space Telescopes, Big Science & Crashing Asteroids
2021-08-10When a Volcano Erupts Under Your Neighbor's House: Visiting the site of Hawaii's 2018 Eruption.
2021-08-08How SpaceX Designed A Heat Shield For The Largest Spacecraft Ever Built
2021-08-03How Do Starlink Satellites Navigate To Their Final Operational Orbits
2021-08-02The International Space Station's Accidental Spin Visualized
2021-07-30Russia's New Space Station Module Causes Alarm On ISS
2021-07-27Can Bezos and Branson Be Called Astronauts? It Depends Who You Ask.
2021-07-21Nauka & New Shepard Fly To Space - What Do They Have In Common?
2021-07-16Is Apollo 11's Lunar Module Still In Orbit Around The Moon 52 Years Later?
2021-07-14Deep Space Questions - Episode 8 - Heavy Payloads, Cool Rockets & The Most Difficult Question Yet
2021-07-12Why SpaceX Will Move To New Thrusters To Simplify Starship
2021-07-07Is It Possible to Fly A Rocket To Space Without Autopilot?
2021-07-03Richard Branson Tries To Beat Jeff Bezos To Space, But Jeff's Final Passenger Is Amazing Choice
2021-06-30Hubble's Latest Problems May Be In a 50 Year Old Computer Design
2021-06-28Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein Discovered 6 Years After It Was First Imaged
2021-06-2610 Years Of Kerbal Space Program - On Final Approach
2021-06-22Deep Space Questions Episode 7 - Rings Around Earth, Zero G Swimming and Soviet Space Planes
2021-06-12Someone Paid $28million To Fly To Space With Jeff Bezos....
2021-06-11How to Move The Planet Earth To Save It From The Sun