Can You Go To The Moon During New Moon?

**jankren** · July 10, 2009, 09:46 PM

I notice that the astronauts always go to the moon during the night. If they go during the day will they burn or something?

**CtrlAltDe1337** · July 11, 2009, 12:26 AM

I don't think they would burn, but its always pretty dark on the moon due to no atmosphere so I don't know if they have always landed at night.

**P014K** · July 11, 2009, 04:00 AM

Astronomers have protective equipment that protect them against the sun's rays. In modern space suits, you'll notice there is a yellow-ish tint in their helmet http://www.michaelp.org/photos/kenne...onaut_suit.jpg . This protects them against rays day or night.

I don't know what videos you are seeing, but are you referring to landing on the 'dark' side of the moon, or landing on the moon when it's a new moon relative to Earth, or launching from Earth at night?

**Old_Scratch** · July 11, 2009, 10:27 AM

I don't think they'd want to since the it would be night on the moon, at least on the side facing the Earth. If they wanted to explore the far side then it would be optimal to go on a new moon.

**jankren** · July 11, 2009, 07:53 PM

Originally Posted by Old_Scratch

I don't think they'd want to since the it would be night on the moon, at least on the side facing the Earth. If they wanted to explore the far side then it would be optimal to go on a new moon.

The mysterious back of the moon will be pitch black I believe if the astronauts go there during New Moon.

So during which phase of the moon astronauts usually went there?

I don't think they would burn, but its always pretty dark on the moon due to no atmosphere so I don't know if they have always landed at night.

So the moon will still be dark during daytime?

**P014K** · July 12, 2009, 03:48 AM

Originally Posted by jankren

The mysterious back of the moon will be pitch black I believe if the astronauts go there during New Moon.

So during which phase of the moon astronauts usually went there?

So the moon will still be dark during daytime?

The Earth and Moon in geosynchronous orbit so the 'back side' is always the backside when you're on Earth. But in space, the moon has both daytime and nighttime, but the days and nights are long.

New Moon is the term used to describe the moon when it appears dark on Earth. More specifically, however, it is when the moon is between the sun and earth in its orbit. Therefore, when it is a new moon and astronauts went to the 'backside' it would be daytime.

**Baron von Sky Hat** · July 13, 2009, 04:10 AM

I think Phier is right in that, if anything, it would be the radiation that would be a problem.
I did a few checks using the lunar landing dates and a simple lunar phase calculator. Apollo 11 went at new moon, however the others generally went at a half-moon -ish point. So, I don't think that the radiation levels would be dire (not with the amount of protection they had, anyway), but it's not really conclusive. It may have been that they went to locations which, for the given phase, were shielded, I haven't checked the phases and landing locations yet. If I get time I'll check and post again.

P014K, you have it basically right, in that the far side of the moon is the same side, constantly facing away from us. However, geosynchronous orbits aren't the reason. Geosynchronous means that it is at the correct distance from earth to always be over a specific point. The same side of the moon always faces us due to tidal locking, a phenomenon relating to the slight stretching of an orbital body, resulting in a small torque which, over time results in the orbital body having one side face the major one. It's the same with the majority of moons in the solar system. I could be said that earth is in geosynchronous orbit around the moon, since we are always `over' the same point. But since we are the major body, and it's only because of the tidal forces that that has occured, rather than selection of that specific orbit. It probably wouldn't be said, for example, that Jupiter is in geosynchronous orbit around Ganymede, due to how much larger jupiter is, but Ganymede is tidally locked to Juptier, with one face towards Jupiter at all times, just like the moon.

No manned landings were ever made on the far side of the moon. This is likely because of the periods of no radio contact that would have to be endured. Without a set of relay satellites, you wouldn't be able to communicate with any lander on the far side. Such a relay system is certainly possible, but wasn't something attempted back then.

**~~The Devil's Sergeant~~** · July 11, 2009, 06:53 PM

I believe the astronauts conducted their moonwalks at the lunar equivalents of dusk and dawn so that they would have enough light to see but not be exposed to high noon temperatures.

**Phier** · July 11, 2009, 08:25 PM

I think the real problem is radiation exposure, not heat, though its been a long time since I knew.

**P014K** · July 13, 2009, 11:42 PM

Yes, Tidally locked is what I meant. Thanks. I have so many astronomy terms in my head that I get them mixed up some times :/

**Baron von Sky Hat** · July 14, 2009, 04:43 AM

Not a problem, terminology mix ups can happen easily. Astronomy in particular has an abundance of terms and names for things that can end up similar or overlapping and the like. Especially names for astrophysical objects, some of which are very misleading and just down to what people called them when they were discovered.

**Juvenal** · July 14, 2009, 05:08 AM

Originally Posted by jankren

I notice that the astronauts always go to the moon during the night. If they go during the day will they burn or something?

Are you referring to the dark sky in the moon landing photographs?

The Moon has no atmosphere, so the sky will always be black, day or night.

I recall the lunar landscape looking fairly bright in the Apollo films, so it was probably day-time, although since they landed on the side facing Earth there would be Earthlight even during the night.

In the videos, the sky looks completely black (no stars) due to the contrast with the bright ground. I believe that stars do show in the still photographs though.

Obviously NASA was concerned about radiation exposure, but the Moon missions were quite short. Anyway, there will always be cosmic rays to worry about, even if you land at night.

**Swordfish08** · July 15, 2009, 02:04 AM

Originally Posted by Juvenal

In the videos, the sky looks completely black (no stars) due to the contrast with the bright ground. I believe that stars do show in the still photographs though.

For the most part, no stars show up in the still photographs. The exposure times for the cameras were far too short for any stars to show up on the film.

**ivan_the_terrible** · July 15, 2009, 11:49 PM

No. There is not enough space to land on a New Moon, because it's so narrow. You can only go when it's a Full Moon.

**Baron von Sky Hat** · July 16, 2009, 06:18 AM

Originally Posted by ivan_the_terrible

No. There is not enough space to land on a New Moon, because it's so narrow. You can only go when it's a Full Moon.

Psssht, don't be silly, we know the moon is tiny in the sky anyway. The astronauts have to be shrunk to fit on it as it is. If it's new moon, they just have to be shrunk a little more, easy.

**P014K** · July 16, 2009, 03:34 AM

I see what you did there.

**P014K** · July 16, 2009, 05:29 PM

Bring out Wayne Szalinkski's shrink ray!!!

**BritPatriot1815** · July 17, 2009, 01:24 PM

erm... put on the floodlights?

**Juvenal** · July 23, 2009, 08:16 AM

Originally Posted by jankren

I notice that the astronauts always go to the moon during the night. If they go during the day will they burn or something?

According to this BBC story, all the landings were during the 14-day Lunar "day".

"Apollo was restricted to mid latitudes and broad daylight," explained Justin Vican, part of a team at the Draper Laboratory in Boston, US, which is developing a new landing system for Altair.
"They could only land under optimal conditions."