Apollo 17 Liftoff from Moon - December 14, 1972

What people said

Recommends Organic Marble · 2022-05 · Space Exploration Stack Exchange · on “Can we launch from the moon?”

Yes, we have already launched from the Moon. The Soviets did too. Explanation of single-burn trajectories from Lunar surface to Earth surface [LINK]

Cites Heopps · 2018-06 · Space Exploration Stack Exchange · on “Observing a lunar lander by telescope”

To see as bright dot - actually lunar lander can be much LESS than 1 pixel. It needs favorable lighting angle conditions. Good reflecting surfaces at the lander would be very helpful, but I'm afraid the Apollo landers were damaged by launches of ascent stages. We can see damage on video [this video]

Cites Tom Spilker · 2018-07 · Space Exploration Stack Exchange · on “For an Apollo Lunar Module Ascent Stage launch, what is the optimal profile of $\beta$ (or $\gamma$) vs time?”

When Apollo astronauts departed the lunar surface in the Lunar Module's Ascent Stage, it appeared to rise vertically ($\beta$ = 0) for ~10 seconds and then begin the "tipover" (videos of Apollo 15 [LINK] , 16 [LINK] and 17 [this video] ), the program of increasing $\beta$ ( = $\pi/2 - \gamma$) with time, transitioning from vertical flight to orbit, where $\beta$ was just short of $\pi/2$ at ASP shutdown. In the videos, especially the out-the-window video, it is apparent that the $\beta$ vs. time program is not a smooth pitch-over but instead has discrete (short) intervals of increasing $\beta$ with intervals of nearly-constant $\beta$ between. QUESTION: Given the physical and performance paramete

Cites JohnHoltz · 2018-12 · Space Exploration Stack Exchange · on “Exit film of moon landing departure”

It depends on which "film" and mission you are referring to. (The original question referred to "the first moon landing". Later edits refer to the last 3 landings.) For the first moon landing, Apollo 11, the lift off was filmed with a motion picture camera inside of lunar module looking out the window. Obviously they carried that camera home with them and develop the film after returning to Earth. (The landing was filmed the same way: camera pointing through the window.) [LINK] Above screen capture of Apollo 11 lift-off from this video, filmed from inside the lunar module [LINK] For the last three missions, Apollo 15, 16, and 17, those were recorded from the TV camera on the lunar rover and

Cites LazyReader · 2020-08 · Space Exploration Stack Exchange · on “Has any rocket been launched into orbit from a plain flat surface?”

To record no. No rocket has achieved orbit fired without a launch pad. You could do it. It used to be part of our defense stategy. For decades the US had missile batteries placed across the country. [LINK] The Nike-Spartan missile had a altitude range of 300+ miles; that's space. And from launchers without launchpads. [LINK] US military tested classified rockets, and missiles out in the desert for decades though I don't believe they were orbital. Including prototype ICBMs, rockets, etc. Rocket booster in Utah desert (horizontally) The Ascent stage for the Lunar Module took off on the Moons surface Typically they launch rockets aimed for orbit from launchpads. Launching on bare dirt has issue

Cites user12102 · 2021-02 · Space Exploration Stack Exchange · on “How did the Perseverance rover land on Mars with the retro rockets apparently stopped?”

@armand's comment [LINK] : You can compare with the footage of the Apollo lunar module ascent stage departure: the engine produces no visible flame Indeed! Here is a screenshot from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum video "Apollo 17 Liftoff from Moon - December 14, 1972", found in How did NASA get the video camera on the Moon to track the LM ascent stage, considering the substantial delay? [LINK] See also the excellent answers to Exit film of moon landing departure [LINK] and this version of the video [LINK] found in Gizmodo's How NASA Captured This Iconic Footage Of Apollo 17 Leaving The Moon [LINK] [LINK]

Cites Organic Marble · 2022-02 · Space Exploration Stack Exchange · on “What kind of signals and encodings were used to send tilt/pan commands to TV cameras on the Moon (up through Apollo)?”

For the Ground-Commanded Television Assembly (GCTA) mounted on the rover that was used to image Apollo liftoffs from the moon: The real-time command messages consist of three vehicle address bits (using vehicle address sub-bit codes) followed by three system address bits and six command data bits (using system/data sub-bit codes) . The vehicle address ( bit numbers 1, 2, and 3) are always fixed as binary 0, 1, 1, respectively ( octal 3) . The system address (bit numbers 4, 5, 6) are always fixed as binary 0, 1, 0 (octal 2). Command data codes (bit numbers 7 through 12) for all GCTA command function are given in Table 4-1. [LINK] Source: GCTA Operation and Checkout Manual [LINK] See also What

Cites Mark · 2022-09 · Space Exploration Stack Exchange · on “What happened to the Apollo moon rovers?”

@DekoRevinio, even ignoring the question of "doable", there was scientific value to leaving them on the moon: the cameras could be remotely controlled from Earth, letting them do things like this video of the Apollo 17 LM taking off [this video] as long as the batteries held out.

Cites user47287 · 2022-09 · Space Exploration Stack Exchange · on “did the Apollo ascent module have a rocket motor?”

I was watching this video [this video] of an Apollo ascent module taking off (captured by a lunar rover credit: NASA) and there is no evidence of a rocket motor not even a glint of light that would signal rocket exhaust. Now I wonder if there even was a motor on board or if there was just an explosive under there that pushed it to lunar orbital velocity.