Quote Originally Posted by griffin View Post
And from what UltraMarginal was saying - the moon revolves around the Earth in a synchronous manner, (it's rotation on its axis is the same as its rotation around the earth) so that the same side always faces the earth (in general).
So what is causing a 22 minute radio blackout? It's not the Moon's rotation, as the landing site will always face the Earth. And it wouldn't be from the moon revolving around to the other side of the Earth, because that'd be a 12 hour gap, not 22 minutes (and other radio sites around the world were tracking it anyway).
Quote Originally Posted by UltraMarginal View Post
They had a few minutes of Radio blackout which if I understand correctly doesn't happen when you are on the surface of the moon. The same side of the moon always faces Earth. Due to a process called tidal friction the moon rotates at the same rate which it orbits the earth.
The only way there could be radio blackout is if they passed behind the moon in an orbit above it's surface, as depicted in the apollo 13 film.
Sorry but am i missing something here? Why are people talking about the physics and reality of the blackout due to the moons roatation? Didn't you see the Sector 7 guys flip the radio switch so the media and the rest of NASA staff get cut off? This is causing the blackout, which Neil is then told "You are dark on the rock. Mission is a go". The world was probably told about the moon's rotation as a cover-up for the blackout. Am i right or have i missed something earlier in this topic?