The way Apollo 11 was headed as it passed the Moon, the lunar gravity would have pulled it right round and sent it off on a heading back to Earth. This was the free return trajectory designed into the early missions as a safety factor. If the astronauts did nothing at this point they would still come home safely.
Hm, according NASA the Apollo 11 fired its rocket engine to get into permanent Moon orbit at 1500 m/s and at suitable altitude. I assume you agree that purpose of firing the rocket engine was to slow down? Pls advise.
It seems ~10 tons of fuel was used for this maneuver. Do you agree? Pls advise.
According you, had Apollo 11 not fired its rocket, it would still go into Moon orbit and, after half an orbit, Apollo 11 would escape Moon orbit again and return to Earth - free return trajectory. Are you certain? Pls advise.
Has any meteor arriving close to Earth ever got into Earth orbit and then ... WHOOPS - escaped again out of orbit - a free return? Small meteors burn up, big meteors crash. Pls explain about free meteor return!
In my opinion you could never escape from Moon gravity/orbit unless you applied a new force to your space ship, e.g. by using your rocket engine. Moon gravity may change your course, pull you into orbit or pull you so you crash. Probability for a 180° course change is 0.
In order to win my Challenge - see post #1 - I feel you have to understand these basic questions.
