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  'Mount Marilyn' and Apollo 11 Eagle's descent

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Author Topic:   'Mount Marilyn' and Apollo 11 Eagle's descent
Jim_Voce
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Posts: 273
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Registered: Jul 2016

posted 07-28-2016 03:05 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jim_Voce   Click Here to Email Jim_Voce     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Many will know that before the Apollo 8 mission, Jim Lovell picked out a plateau feature on a lunar mountain range that was on the edge of the Sea of Tranquility and he named the feature 'Mount Marilyn'.

I do not know what the purpose of identifying this feature was and spotting it from lunar orbit on Apollo 8. However, I believe Apollo 8 was spotting possible landing areas and the Sea of Tranquility was one of them.

Then on Apollo 11 and during the Eagle's descent, Armstrong spotted the feature and called out something like - 'There's Mountain Marilyn' much to the Lovell's satisfaction as they were watching the descent.

Was there any significance to the 'Mount Marilyn' feature during the Eagle's descent or was it just a nice tribute by Armstrong?

And also, does anyone know what Armstrong's exact words were when identifying the feature?

oly
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Posts: 971
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015

posted 07-28-2016 06:34 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for oly   Click Here to Email oly     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Mount Marilyn was a reference point that was identified as an easily recognised feature for the crew to identify with. it was a easily referenced point that the LM overflew during decent. With reference here, all three Apollo 11 astronauts made reference to Mount Marilyn during numerous lunar orbit operations. Bruce McCandless also responds to these references during PDI prep.
076:37:48 Armstrong: We're over Mount Marilyn at the present time, and it's ignition point.

076:37:55 McCandless: Roger. Thank you. And our preliminary tracking data for the first few minutes shows you in a 61.6 by 169.5 orbit [114.1 by 313.9 km]. Over.

076:38:10 Armstrong: Roger.

076:38:12 McCandless: And Jim is smiling

schnappsicle
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Posts: 396
From: Houston, TX, USA
Registered: Jan 2012

posted 07-28-2016 06:52 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for schnappsicle   Click Here to Email schnappsicle     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Aldrin's exact quote (according to NASA's mission transcript) is:

03 04 37 48: "We're going over Mount Marilyn at the present time, and it's ignition point."

At 03 04 38 13, McCandless reports "And Jim is smiling".

That exchange occurred during the first revolution, not during the descent. There were several features on the moon that were landmarks to the crew during the descent. The flight plan called for them to pass over those landmarks at certain times during their descent. If they passed over the landmark too soon, it meant that the crew would land long (past the intended landing point). Such was the case on Apollo 11.

From my uneducated reading of the transcript, I believe that PDI occurred over Mount Marilyn. Hence it's significance.

I could not find Armstrong commenting on Mount Marilyn anywhere in the transcript.

schnappsicle
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Posts: 396
From: Houston, TX, USA
Registered: Jan 2012

posted 07-28-2016 06:58 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for schnappsicle   Click Here to Email schnappsicle     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It's funny how one transcript attributes the quote to Armstrong and the other to Aldrin.

I wonder which one is right.

I listened to the voice recording of that moment, and it does sound like Aldrin to me, but the quality is such that it's really hard to tell.

oly
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From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015

posted 07-28-2016 07:10 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for oly   Click Here to Email oly     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Use this map for reference, Mount Marilyn is almost centre of map about 1 Deg N, 40 Deg E.

LM-12
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From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010

posted 07-28-2016 09:06 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The LROC website has this page on Mt.Marilyn, including photo AS10-29-4165 of the Apollo 10 CSM flying over the landmark.

(LROC, AIG and ALSJ have frame 4165 in Magazine 28. AIA and AFJ have frame 4165 in Magazine 29. I think the correct Mag is 29.)

The direction of travel in the LROC photo is down.

All times are CT (US)

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