Mascons affect on LM during the landing?

[mako88sb]

Been looking into this a bit as I was curious if mascons contributed in any way to having any type of effect on the LM that the commander had to be aware during the final phase of landing? From what I've been able to find, it looks like it was low orbit were the mascons had the most affect but wouldn't the LM descent from low orbit make it even more susceptible to mascons abnormal gravity? Or was the portion of the landing planned to avoid mascons as much as possible thus minimizing any potential issues? I was hoping to find a NASA pdf regarding research and how they allowed for the mascons but no luck.

[bknight]

I sense another YouTube video by hunchbacked

[mako88sb]

I sense another YouTube video by hunchbacked

No, some other nutcase who's convinced the landings were faked because according to him, the only way way to land on the moon is by a autonomous computer. He refuses to explain whats so difficult about the moon landing that makes a human controlled landing impossible but does cite the mascons as something to do with it. Pretty silly I know but it did get me interested enough to look into it more. One thing I must say about these nuts is that while looking for rebuttal information, I have learned a lot about the Apollo program and how it was so much more involved then I ever realized.

[bknight]

I sense another YouTube video by hunchbacked

No, some other nutcase who's convinced the landings were faked because according to him, the only way way to land on the moon is by a autonomous computer. He refuses to explain whats so difficult about the moon landing that makes a human controlled landing impossible but does cite the mascons as something to do with it. Pretty silly I know but it did get me interested enough to look into it more. One thing I must say about these nuts is that while looking for rebuttal information, I have learned a lot about the Apollo program and how it was so much more involved then I ever realized.

Well it seems like a MO of hunchbacked for the perceived difficulties combined with an "inadequate" computer

[mako88sb]

I sense another YouTube video by hunchbacked

No, some other nutcase who's convinced the landings were faked because according to him, the only way way to land on the moon is by a autonomous computer. He refuses to explain whats so difficult about the moon landing that makes a human controlled landing impossible but does cite the mascons as something to do with it. Pretty silly I know but it did get me interested enough to look into it more. One thing I must say about these nuts is that while looking for rebuttal information, I have learned a lot about the Apollo program and how it was so much more involved then I ever realized.

Well it seems like a MO of hunchbacked for the perceived difficulties combined with an "inadequate" computer

Yes it certainly fits with his style. Must admit I haven't bothered to even look at his site for awhile now. What's really becoming annoying is how many more of the flat-Earth nuts seem to be popping up.

[bknight]

Yes it certainly fits with his style. Must admit I haven't bothered to even look at his site for awhile now. What's really becoming annoying is how many more of the flat-Earth nuts seem to be popping up.

Oh yes, dumber than the Apollo hoax nuts.

[Allan F]

The effect of the mascons were counteracted by having a radar to measure the altitude and closure rate. The distance of the powered descent was only a fraction of a complete orbit.

[VQ]

Been looking into this a bit as I was curious if mascons contributed in any way to having any type of effect on the LM that the commander had to be aware during the final phase of landing? From what I've been able to find, it looks like it was low orbit were the mascons had the most affect but wouldn't the LM descent from low orbit make it even more susceptible to mascons abnormal gravity? Or was the portion of the landing planned to avoid mascons as much as possible thus minimizing any potential issues? I was hoping to find a NASA pdf regarding research and how they allowed for the mascons but no luck.

Gravity at the moon's surface is about 1.6 m*s^-2. As (beautifully) graphically summarized at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/grail/multimedia/pia16587.html, the variation of the moon's gravity is about +/- 500 mGal (so a range of 1 Gal, or 0.01 m*s^-2). That's up to about a 0.3% variation from the average - enough to perturb a circular orbit over the course of weeks, but not enough to cause any insurmountable problems during lunar descent.

[mako88sb]

The effect of the mascons were counteracted by having a radar to measure the altitude and closure rate. The distance of the powered descent was only a fraction of a complete orbit.

Thanks for the info. I actually just got David Woods "How Apollo Flew to the Moon" today and he has an excellent write-up about it that was very enlightening especially in regards to Apollo 15's orbit over some unknown mascons that were eventually determined to be 2 of the strongest ones found. Since they were aware of possible problems like this coming up, it was simple matter of having higher orbits then required in anticipation of possible perturbations. With Apollo 15, they realized the orbit was being affected more then they allowed but a small trim maneuver was all that was required to correct the situation. 

[mako88sb]

Been looking into this a bit as I was curious if mascons contributed in any way to having any type of effect on the LM that the commander had to be aware during the final phase of landing? From what I've been able to find, it looks like it was low orbit were the mascons had the most affect but wouldn't the LM descent from low orbit make it even more susceptible to mascons abnormal gravity? Or was the portion of the landing planned to avoid mascons as much as possible thus minimizing any potential issues? I was hoping to find a NASA pdf regarding research and how they allowed for the mascons but no luck.

Gravity at the moon's surface is about 1.6 m*s^-2. As (beautifully) graphically summarized at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/grail/multimedia/pia16587.html, the variation of the moon's gravity is about +/- 500 mGal (so a range of 1 Gal, or 0.01 m*s^-2). That's up to about a 0.3% variation from the average - enough to perturb a circular orbit over the course of weeks, but not enough to cause any insurmountable problems during lunar descent.

Thanks for the link and info. Very helpful.