That... that was absolutely spectacular. Oh man, chills the -whole way down-, and then the ending? Even on its own this would have been amazing. Waiting until the 50th anniversary was just an exceptional stroke of excellence.

*deep bow* Well -played- everyone. -Damn- well played.

-Droken

The Apollo 12 episode ("That's All There Is") is probably my favorite of From the Earth to the Moon). It's such a strong counterpoint to "Tranquillity Base". Apollo 11 was Serious Business Undertaken by Serious Men,* two of whom were among the most enigmatic and unknowable astronauts in NASA. Apollo 12 was Pete, Al, and Dick Go to the Moon. :)

--G.
* with the arguable exception of Mike Collins, whose memoir, Carrying the Fire, is one of the wittiest and most relatable astronaut books
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Speaking of food on Apollo missions:

- John Young doesn't realize he has a hot mic after the first EVA debrief, Apollo 16

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

No... no, it's much less ambiguous in Dìqiú. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

I am not sure I agree, as the Agni both launched from Diqu and would return to it, and would seem to be limited by a lot of the same restrictions Von Braun's SSO (single stage to orbit... AND BEYOND!) would have had?

This seems to be the one thing our Apollo program had over Diqu's did... that Apollo's command modules vs the lunar landing modules did not have to worry about these things while the Agni did?

...!
Stoke Mandeville, Esq & The Victorian Ballsmiths
"Nobody Want Verdigris-Covered Balls!"

Yeah, the main issue that Apollo had to deal with was weight. They not only had to have enough fuel to lift the payload, but enough fuel to lift that fuel, repeat several times. It's why the Rocket Equation is the devil in the details of exploring the solar system, and why any possible reactionless drive is such a huge thing.

The Agni V does not have to deal with all of that, and so has some massive advantages in terms of payload weight, takeoff/landing methodology, and loiter time (more life support mass available). Of course, it has the major limitation that it's entirely dependent on the availability of the Avatar to provide its main thrust.

And the Comet. The biggest headache the Phoenix Flight mission planners faced was that the launch window was >< that wide, and there was only going to be one of them per century.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

That is indeed a pretty major limiting factor. Kinda makes the likelihood of repeat flights pretty much nil.

Unless they can come up with a different arrangement, maybe multi-stage with teams of firebenders working in synch... gonna be difficult.

Well, by that point, they'd forego the "powered by firebending" plan and just go with the multi-stage liquid propellant launchers that had already been used for satellite launches. There hasn't been a return flight to Yue, however, since the need for that got superseded by the announcement of the Veil passages to Zipang and the people there.

--- Philip

	Philip J. Moyer Contributing Writer, Editor and Artist (and Moderator) -- Eyrie Productions, Unlimited CEO of MTS, High Poobah Of Artwork, and High Priest Of the Church Of Aerianne -- Magnetic Terrapin Studios "Insert Pithy Comment Here" Fandoms -- Fanart -- Fan Meta Discussions

Yeah, running into an entire galaxy of populated worlds with easy travel kinda renders the whole thing irrelevant.

In an exciting and yet subtly melancholy way, as I have flashbacks to Corwin and Utena's trip to the moon.