are we still at the stage where we don't know about a crater rim that is 3KM high on the moon? I would assume that by now, imaging satellites have captured information like this?
are we still at the stage where we don't know about a crater rim that is 3KM high on the moon? I would assume that by now, imaging satellites have captured information like this?
(/s)
It switched between a virtual rendering of the mission ( think game ) and a group of people watching the same simulation. Not once was there actual camera footage ever.
When things went south, the simulation was halted of course. I guess the programmers didn't account for that eventuality.
I mean, an explosion would have been nice ...
I know every gram of extra mass has to justify being there, and that bandwidth is an expensive commodity, but, for an experimental vehicle (and every version 1 is experimental) I would really like to have a couple down-facing and side-facing wide-angle cameras streaming the descent. Having that, even a manual override is possible (2-second lag is a pain, but better than having no good idea of what happened and a lost vehicle with a payload).
Maybe the lander expected to be at a different place that didn't have the rim of a crater in its path.
The control room was sweating when the landing deadline passed beyond the expected margin of error and they were still flying.
Lesson: always leave a margin of error, especially on the first mission. Armstrong's calmness and clear thinking under duress paid off.