Today in TechAstronomers and students scour space for lost Apollo 10 module
The PhD students working to reestablish contact with U.K. satellite Prospero X3 might have to share the distinction of being some of the first astroarcheaologists. Another group of astronomers recently announced its plan to find Snoopy, the lost Apollo 10 lunar landing module. And as finding a 42-year-old module in space presents more than just a bit of challenge, the astronomers enlisted the help of some schools in the United Kingdom.
Led by amateur astronomer Nick Howes, the project plans to get the students involved in astronomy through the use of Faulkes Telescope Project. The internet telescope viewing facility runs from Hawaii and Australia, which means students can view the telescopes during the day in their classrooms. Mike Loucks from Space Exploration Engineering (who has calculated orbits for Apollo 13) is in charge of narrowing down the possible locations of Snoopy in the vastness of space. But even then, Howes knows how difficult the undertaking is. The project aims to at least discover new asteroids and comets even if Snoopy is never found.
Apollo 10 is understandably overshadowed by its predecessor, the Apollo 11, which is the first manned craft to land on the moon. Apollo 10's landing module, Snoopy, was jettisoned like all other landing modules, and has been floating around in space since then. NASA last had contact with Snoopy back in 1969, and no orbital data for the Snoopy exists after that year. With a search area of such scale, it's hard to be overly-optimistic about finding Snoopy. But it's definitely a fun way to engage the students — we'd have loved to go on landing module hunting in our classrooms back in the day.
[Story via Discovery, Video via Space]
Article by Mariella Moon
This article originally appeared on Tecca
More from Tecca:
