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Apollo 11 Mission 58 words

Vocabulary from Apollo 11. List created with VocabGrabber:
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/vocabgrabber/

Text from:
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_11/overview/

MORE ON THIS LIST:

  1. moonwalk
    an exploratory walk by an astronaut on the surface of the moon
    It was briefly examined by Neil Armstrong near the end of his moonwalk.
  2. lunar module
    a spacecraft that carries astronauts from the command module to the surface of the moon and back
    It was also the fifth manned flight of the command and service modules and the third flight of the lunar module.
  3. Apollo program
    a program of space flights undertaken by US to land a man on the Moon
    This Johnson Space Center site catalogs each experiment and equipment item deployed or operated on the lunar surface during the Apollo program.
  4. translunar
    situated beyond the moon or its orbit around the earth
    After a 2-hour checkout period, the spacecraft was injected into the translunar phase of the mission.
  5. Neil Armstrong
    United States astronaut; the first man to set foot on the Moon (July 20, 1969) (1930-)
    Neil Armstrong, Mission Commander, was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on August 5, 1930.
  6. command module
    a space module in which astronauts can live and control the spacecraft and communicate with earth
    The Command Module (CM), 3.63 meters long and shaped like a blunt cone, was at the front or top.
  7. approach path
    the final path followed by an aircraft as it is landing
    Less than 2° slope in the approach path and landing site.
  8. orbiter
    man-made equipment that orbits around the earth or the moon
    This view was obtained by the unmanned Lunar Orbiter V spacecraft in 1967 prior to the Apollo missions to the Moon.
  9. land site
    the piece of land on which something is located (or is to be located)
    The Apollo 11 landing site in Mare Tranquillitatis was one of three sites selected for the first lunar landing from a list of 30 sites originally under consideration.
  10. liftoff
    the initial ascent of a rocket from its launching pad
    The Passive Seismic Experiment was placed behind the large rock to shield the experiment from the effects of liftoff.
  11. space vehicle
    a craft capable of traveling in outer space; technically, a satellite around the sun
    The 363-foot-tall Apollo 11 space vehicle was launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, at 9:37 a.m., July 16, 1969.
  12. rocket engine
    a jet engine containing its own propellant and driven by reaction propulsion
    This allowed the descent rocket engine to be turned off just prior to landing.
  13. control center
    the operational center for a group of related activities
    Equipped with couches, it served as the crew compartment and control center.
  14. crater
    a bowl-shaped geological formation at the top of a volcano
    Smoothness: Relatively few craters and boulders
  15. spacecraft
    a craft capable of traveling in outer space; technically, a satellite around the sun
    After a 2-hour checkout period, the spacecraft was injected into the translunar phase of the mission.
  16. magma
    molten rock in the earth's crust
    The basalts found at the Apollo 11 landing site range in age from 3.6 to 3.9 billion years and were formed from at least two chemically different magma sources.
  17. reseau
    a net or mesh foundation for lace
    A reseau grid was set in front of the image plane to provide photogrammetric information in the analysis of the photography.
  18. propellant
    any substance that propels
    Most of the consumables (oxygen, hydrogen, propellant) were also stored in this module, which was jetisoned before reentry.
  19. footpad
    a highwayman who robs on foot
    Image of the footpads on the lunar module's legs.
  20. albedo
    the ratio of reflected to incident light
    The higher albedo of the highland material, relative to the dark mare regions, also is evident in this view.
  21. NASA
    an independent agency of the United States government responsible for aviation and spaceflight
    In July 1970 he became Deputy Association Administrator for Aeronautics at NASA, and retired in August of 1971.
  22. reentry
    the act of entering again
    Able to accommodate all three astronauts, the CM was also used for reentry.
  23. power cable
    cable used to distribute electricity
    Accessories included a right-angle mirror, a power cable, and a CM boresight window bracket.
  24. micrometeorite
    a meteorite or meteoroid so small that it drifts down to earth without becoming intensely heated in the atmosphere
    The pots have a raised rim, characteristic of pits made by high-velocity micrometeorite impacts.
  25. aeronautical engineering
    the branch of engineering science concerned with the design and construction of aircraft
    He received a B.S. in aeronautical engineering from Purdue University in 1955, and an M.S. in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California in 1970.
  26. splashdown
    a landing of a spacecraft in the sea at the end of a space flight
    Splashdown July 24 11:50:35 am
  27. magnetic field
    the lines of force surrounding a permanent magnet or a moving charged particle
    The Earth's magnetic field prevents these charged particles from reaching the Earth's surface, although in the Earth's polar regions, these particles can reach the upper part of the atmosphere, causing auroras.
  28. astronautics
    the theory and practice of navigation through air or space
    He received a B.S. from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1951, and a Doctor of Science degree in Astronautics from MIT in 1963.
  29. geologic
    of or relating to or based on geology
    From the photographs, information can be derived about the small-scale lunar surface geologic features and about processes occurring on the surface.
  30. cadmium
    a soft bluish-white ductile malleable toxic bivalent metallic element; occurs in association with zinc ores
    This camera, which was carried aboard the command module, featured a motor-drive mechanism, powered by two nickel-cadmium batteries, that advanced the film and cocked the shutter whenever the camera was activated.
  31. topographic
    concerned with topography
    The 70-millimeter photographs taken on the lunar surface provided panoramic views of the surface near the landed LM and allowed detailed topographic mapping of the lunar surface near the landing point.
  32. spectrometer
    spectroscope for obtaining a mass spectrum by deflecting ions into a thin slit and measuring the ion current with an electrometer
    Two different experiments, the Solar Wind Composition Experiment and the Solar Wind Spectrometer, were deployed on the Moon to study solar wind.
  33. telemetry
    automatic transmission and measurement of data from remote sources by wire or radio or other means
    Other experiments were deployed by the crew and then monitored from Earth by radio telemetry after the crew departed.
  34. geodetic
    of or relating to or determined by geodesy
    The photographs were used for lunar mapping and geodetic studies, and they were valuable in training the astronauts for future lunar missions.
  35. volcanic rock
    extrusive igneous rock solidified near or on the surface of the Earth
    On Earth, basalts are a common type of volcanic rock and are found in places such as Hawai'i.
  36. landing gear
    an undercarriage that supports the weight of the plane when it is on the ground
    The plaque was attached to the ladder on the landing gear strut on the descent stage of the Apollo 11 LM. The plaque was covered with a thin sheet of stainless steel during flight.
  37. payload
    goods carried by a large vehicle
    It was less extensive than the experiments performed on later missions, both because of time restrictions on the EVA and because of limitations on the payload mass carried on the first landing attempt.
  38. film advance
    a mechanism for advancing film in a camera or projector
    These cameras, which were carried aboard the lunar module, were operated manually for the shutter and film advance.
  39. grab sample
    a single sample or measurement taken at a specific time or over as short a period as feasible
    Instead, this time was used to collect approximately 20 selected "grab samples" from three different areas near the lunar module and from 10 to 15 meters away.
  40. solar wind
    a stream of protons moving radially from the sun
    Solar Wind Composition Experiment
  41. plagioclase
    any of a series of triclinic feldspars that form rocks
    The basalts found at the Apollo 11 landing site are generally similar to basalts on Earth and are composed primarily of the minerals pyroxene and plagioclase.
  42. granularity
    the quality of being composed of relatively large particles
    Astronaut Aldrin immediately began describing the the view from the window:

    ". . . it looks like a collection of just about every variety of shapes, angularities, and granularities, every variety of rock you could find . . . it looks as though they're going to have some interesting colors to them."
  43. breccia
    a rudaceous rock consisting of sharp fragments embedded in clay or sand
    Two main types of rocks, basalts and breccias, were found at the Apollo 11 landing site.
  44. basalt
    the commonest type of solidified lava; a dense dark grey fine-grained igneous rock that is composed chiefly of plagioclase feldspar and pyroxene
    Basalts are rocks solidified from molten lava.
  45. pyroxene
    any of a group of crystalline silicate mineral common in igneous and metamorphic rocks
    The basalts found at the Apollo 11 landing site are generally similar to basalts on Earth and are composed primarily of the minerals pyroxene and plagioclase.
  46. nonuniform
    not homogeneous
    The regularly spaced vertical lines are the result of combining individually digitized 'framelets' to make a composite photograph. and the irregularly-shaped bright and dark spots are due to nonuniform film development.
  47. anaglyph
    anything carved in low relief
    Red/Green (Anaglyph) Images
    To view anaglyph stereo pairs you need red-green (or red-blue) stereo glasses.
  48. focal length
    the distance from a lens to its focus
    The CM camera had lenses of 5-mm, 10-mm, and 75-mm focal lengths; the LM camera was fitted with an 18-mm wide-angle lens.
  49. noble gas
    any of the chemically inert gaseous elements of the helium group in the periodic table
    The isotopes of the light noble gases were measured, including helium-3, helium-4, neon-20, neon-21, neon-22, and argon-36.
  50. seismic
    subject to or caused by an earthquake or earth vibration
    The first of these was the Laser Ranging Retroreflector, which was set up about 14 meters south-southwest of the LM. Second was the Passive Seismic Experiment, which was set up a bit farther out from the LM.
  51. modular
    constructed with standardized units or dimensions allowing flexibility and variety in use
    Added were provisions for the scientific experiments package and the Modular Equipment Storage Assembly (MESA), which housed the experiments and tools used during the lunar surface activities.
  52. wide-angle lens
    a camera lens having a wider than normal angle of view (and usually a short focal length); produces an image that is foreshortened in the center and increasingly distorted in the periphery
    The CM camera had lenses of 5-mm, 10-mm, and 75-mm focal lengths; the LM camera was fitted with an 18-mm wide-angle lens.
  53. telephoto
    a photograph made with a telephoto lens
    This is a telephoto view of the craters Messier and Messier A. The aypical shape of these craters has caused considerable controversy concerning the mode of origin.
  54. stereoscopic picture
    two photographs taken from slightly different angles that appear three-dimensional when viewed together
    The Apollo lunar surface close-up camera, which provided stereoscopic pictures of the fine surface structure, is in the foreground.
  55. photographic equipment
    equipment used by a photographer
    The photographic equipment and materials carried by Apollo 11 were designed specifically to (1) photograph "targets of opportunity," i.e., scientifically interesting sites and potential Apollo landing sites as time and circumstances permitted.
  56. panoramic view
    a situation or topic as if viewed from an altitude or distance
    Panoramic Views Around the Landing Site
  57. telescopic
    visible only with a telescope
    Earth-based telescopic view.
  58. field of view
    the area that is visible (as through an optical instrument)
    The television camera was set up by astronaut Neil Armstrong at a distance from the lunar module (LM), oriented so that the LM and most surface activities would be in the field of view.