ApolloHoax.net

Apollo Discussions => The Reality of Apollo => Topic started by: bfeist on December 02, 2015, 10:48:28 AM

Title: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: bfeist on December 02, 2015, 10:48:28 AM
Hi all,
I'm happy to announce that after years of archival and software development work, http://apollo17.org is live.
You may recall that I launch a prototype of the site this past spring, well now the real deal is up.

The site concept is to give the general public the chance to experience NASA's last Apollo mission in real-time.
If you visit during the anniversary (starting this Sunday evening, Dec 6) you can join the mission in-progress as it happened exactly 43 years ago to the second.

I hope you all enjoy it. Comments and suggestions welcomed.
Please spread the word if you're so inclined. I'm hoping many people try it. https://twitter.com/BenFeist/status/671922964170870784

Ben
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: Ishkabibble on December 02, 2015, 05:27:20 PM
Awesomesauce!
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: onebigmonkey on December 04, 2015, 02:32:55 PM
It is absolutely incredible - a huge piece of superbness. I could (and have) sit and watch it for hours.

How on Earth do you follow that ~cough~ Hadley Rille ~cough cough~

My only teensy weensy quibble is that I've found the slider thing at the top is a little bit twitchy - accidentally flipping between surface days, for example, when I've been trying to find stuff. That said I hadn't seen that the Guided Tour was also a good way of sipping between segments.
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: bfeist on December 04, 2015, 02:36:00 PM
Glad you're enjoying it! The top navigator was a challenge to design. I had to draw the line between making it apparent to people to move their mouses there, and making it utilitarian. If you accidentally roll your mouse between tiers, you'll make a big jump. I'm not quiet sure how to solve the issue while still making it apparent that you can use it.
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: bknight on December 04, 2015, 02:40:13 PM
I'm Twitter challenged.  What slider?  All I see is an image of Jack running toward the LRV.
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: bfeist on December 04, 2015, 02:45:40 PM
That graphic at the top of the screen is an interactive way to navigate to various parts of the mission. The top bar is the whole 13 day mission, the 2nd bar is about 15 hours, the 3rd bar is about 1.5 hours. Each level is a zoom in of the previous so it takes a minute or two to get the hang of how to use it. Roll across the top bar and you'll see the other two racing along to the time you're rolling over.

It's a complex idea that I'm hoping people can just get the hang of.
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: bknight on December 04, 2015, 03:19:10 PM
Sorry, but all I see is a tweet from you with all the normal icons in the Twitter tool bar.  In the middle is an image of the mission with a orange and blue rectangle in the upper right corner, but no way to select anything within the image.
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: bfeist on December 04, 2015, 03:34:13 PM
We must be talking about two different things. Go to http://apollo17.org on a desktop computer, prefereably using Google Chrome.
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: bknight on December 04, 2015, 04:01:58 PM
No this is where I was going:
https://twitter.com/BenFeist/status/671922964170870784
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: onebigmonkey on December 04, 2015, 04:10:06 PM
Glad you're enjoying it! The top navigator was a challenge to design. I had to draw the line between making it apparent to people to move their mouses there, and making it utilitarian. If you accidentally roll your mouse between tiers, you'll make a big jump. I'm not quiet sure how to solve the issue while still making it apparent that you can use it.

I wondered whether you could have sections blocked (eg for EVA's) that would lock in the second navigator bar underneath to that section when clicked on. Or whether I should just stop whining and get used to it :D

Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: bfeist on December 04, 2015, 04:11:46 PM
Glad you're enjoying it! The top navigator was a challenge to design. I had to draw the line between making it apparent to people to move their mouses there, and making it utilitarian. If you accidentally roll your mouse between tiers, you'll make a big jump. I'm not quiet sure how to solve the issue while still making it apparent that you can use it.

I wondered whether you could have sections blocked (eg for EVA's) that would lock in the second navigator bar underneath to that section when clicked on. Or whether I should just stop whining and get used to it :D

That's an interesting approach! I'll have a go at it. Much appreciated!
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: Kiwi on December 05, 2015, 07:38:50 AM
Small typo: "blue marbel series" instead of the correct "marble".

It doesn't seem to work well with Internet Explorer 11 and it's a pity you recommend Google Chrome.  I looked at that when it first came out and quickly decided I wanted nothing to do with all the intrusive garbage Google seemed to want to force on me, but I don't remember the details now, thanks to old age! Has Google Chrome been improved since those days?
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: bknight on December 05, 2015, 09:59:27 AM
Small typo: "blue marbel series" instead of the correct "marble".

It doesn't seem to work well with Internet Explorer 11 and it's a pity you recommend Google Chrome.  I looked at that when it first came out and quickly decided I wanted nothing to do with all the intrusive garbage Google seemed to want to force on me, but I don't remember the details now, thanks to old age! Has Google Chrome been improved since those days?
Oh I agree 100% with your opinion of Chrome, not for me!
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: bfeist on December 05, 2015, 10:29:39 AM
Small typo: "blue marbel series" instead of the correct "marble".

It doesn't seem to work well with Internet Explorer 11 and it's a pity you recommend Google Chrome.  I looked at that when it first came out and quickly decided I wanted nothing to do with all the intrusive garbage Google seemed to want to force on me, but I don't remember the details now, thanks to old age! Has Google Chrome been improved since those days?

Thanks for the type-o call-out. Fixed.

Honestly, you can use Safari, Firefox, or Chrome for a fast Javascript engine. I have made the site 100% compatible with IE11, it's just that IE11 is as slow as molasses in January--the JS engine in IE is garbage. It's also less than 2% of the traffic to the site. It has been abandoned by almost everyone.

It's fundamental technical reasons that cause people to recommend other browsers to you, not a belief in google. Chrome is #1 because it is by far the fastest JS engine. But if you hate google, Firefox is a close second. If you have a mac, Safari isn't bad.
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: bknight on December 05, 2015, 11:23:47 AM
Thanks for the suggestion to watch with Firefox, it does work much better than IE
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: ka9q on December 05, 2015, 03:09:26 PM
And Firefox has an excellent ad blocker, adblock plus. Used it for years.
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: bfeist on December 06, 2015, 11:15:56 PM
It's now officially the 43rd anniversary of the mission!

Between Dec 6th, 9:55pm EST and Dec 19th 3:29pm EST (when the mission ends), this link: http://apollo17.org/?t=rt will drop you into the mission exactly 43 years ago to the second.

The crew might be working, eating, walking on the moon, or even sleeping. At any time you can jump out of "real time" mode and explore the whole experience, or click to sync back up with today's date an time to continue along.

A friend and I created this site independently. There's no commercial aspect to it, and it's not officially affiliated with NASA. I hope the world takes interest, for at least long enough to pause and remember that for the next 13 days exactly 43 years ago, we reached the pinnacle of human space exploration. Please share if you like it.
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: Zakalwe on December 07, 2015, 03:22:31 AM
Tremendous work!
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: bfeist on December 11, 2015, 07:51:14 PM
If anyone's still interested, the crew has started their first EVA, and the mission's first television transmission from the moon will start at around 8:07pm EST.

http://apollo17.org/?t=118:14:02
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: bfeist on December 19, 2015, 02:25:20 PM
3 minutes to #splashdown http://apollo17.org/?t=304:28:54

I hope you all enjoyed the live coverage!
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: Allan F on December 19, 2015, 02:29:25 PM
3 minutes to #splashdown http://apollo17.org/?t=304:28:54

I hope you all enjoyed the live coverage!

Oh yes.
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: ka9q on December 20, 2015, 03:16:45 AM
Yes, all of us on planet Gliese309-3 enjoyed the mission very much. Congratulations to all you earthlings. But you won't see this message for another 40 years.
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: Glom on December 20, 2015, 04:49:27 AM
Such a wealth of information.

Works better in portrait than landscape on my Android tablet.

Is the timeline on the top right supposed to track? It wasn't moving on mine.

But most importantly of all, did Gene really say "son of a bitch" on the radio during the launch?
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: bknight on December 20, 2015, 06:21:30 AM
Such a wealth of information.

Works better in portrait than landscape on my Android tablet.

Is the timeline on the top right supposed to track? It wasn't moving on mine.

But most importantly of all, did Gene really say "son of a bitch" on the radio during the launch?
Yes right after the second stager ignition.
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: bfeist on December 20, 2015, 08:56:00 AM
Such a wealth of information.

Works better in portrait than landscape on my Android tablet.

Is the timeline on the top right supposed to track? It wasn't moving on mine.

But most importantly of all, did Gene really say "son of a bitch" on the radio during the launch?

Glad to hear it works on your android tablet at all. The site is very processor intensive and works to varying degrees on mobile platforms depending on their hardware. I'll put some thought into how I could better accommodate less powerful devices in future. Give it a try on a desktop or laptop.
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: bfeist on December 22, 2015, 10:56:58 AM
The site is up for an internet award. Please take a second to vote if you liked it!
http://www.awwwards.com/best-websites/apollo-17-in-real-time/
Title: Re: New Apollo17.org is live in time for the 43rd anniversary of the mission
Post by: ChrLz on December 29, 2015, 04:43:14 AM
WOW!!!  That is just amazing stuff!  Applause...  I will be recommending this elsewhere.

Thanks guys  (umm, when will you be doin' 11? :D)