Post B2aQELONoGIPFSCYqW by jk@mastodon.social
 (DIR) More posts by jk@mastodon.social
 (DIR) Post #B2aQEKD0D5b9ZrrxT6 by jk@mastodon.social
       2026-01-23T17:28:11Z
       
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       one of the reasons that it took them 11 apollo missions to get to the moon is that they would always prepare to launch when it was a full moon. they'd point at the moon and be like "there it is!!!" but by the time they got there, it was like a waning crescent or even worse, a new moon, and theyd fly straight through it
       
 (DIR) Post #B2aQELONoGIPFSCYqW by jk@mastodon.social
       2026-01-23T17:31:09Z
       
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       in theory it's possible to land on the concave part of the crescent moon, but the gravitational field is kind of weird, so it's more akin to landing on an asteroid or something, and then you have to deal with the poor line-of-sight to the earth which complicates radio transmissions. so generally it's not worth it, compared to simply waiting for a full moon