a mysterious whistle without explanation

In 1969, the Apollo 10 astronauts and one of the Apollo 11 astronauts They heard an intriguing whistle between ghostly and spatial that left them stunned. In both cases, they heard this type of music when they were flying over the Moon. Therefore, it could be expected that the Artemis II crew would have heard it as well. However, we know that he has not. Not only because they have not commented on it, but because today the origin of that sound is known and in the case of this new mission it would have been impossible for them to hear it.

Nobody will believe us. It was the month of May 1969 when the Apollo 10 mission, the equivalent of Artemis II if we compare the Apollo program with Artemis, made its particular trip to the Moon. When they were orbiting around the far side of the satellite, the entire crew began to hear a mysterious whistle. The pilot, Gene Cernan, was the first to comment on the matter. “That music even sounds like outer space, right? You hear it? That whistling sound?” Everyone else joined in the comments, which later would appear in NASA transcripts. Later, John W. Young would add: “We’re going to have to find out about this, no one will believe us.”

History repeats itself. Contrary to what Young thought, they did believe them. So when the Apollo 11 astronauts embarked on their own journey two months later, they were warned that they might encounter that sound. Two of the astronauts on this mission didn’t hear it, but one did. As the command module pilot, Michael Collins, would later explain in his memoirs, when he was flying over the Moon alone, with his companions perched on the satellite, he heard exactly the same noise. Even though he had been warned about it, he couldn’t help but be overwhelmed.

No aliens in sight. In reality, the sound that all these astronauts heard was not alien at all, but something very terrestrial and human: an interference. Apollo 10 didn’t just fly over the Moon. He also tested the empty lander, to check that it undocked correctly from the command module. It did not touch the selenite surface, but it did separate and descend a little. It was at that moment that the sound was heard.

In the case of Apollo 11, only Collins heard it at exactly the same moment. When the two parts of the ship were separated. Over time, those in charge of NASA’s transmission system discovered that it was interference between the lander’s radio system and the command module. When they separated, their respective radios they competed between them, causing this curious effect.

YoIt is not possible that it was heard in Orion. On the Apollo missions, astronauts could use the command module or the landing module. While the second was on the Moon, the first remained orbiting around it, with only the pilot on board. Instead, Orion consists of a single capsule powered by European Service Module engines. For this reason, during the lunar flyby nothing was separated from the ship and there were no different radio systems that could interfere.

Even so, communications systems are no longer what they were. Even if they had separated, a way would have been found to avoid interference. Or maybe not. Yeah your urine freezes and They have to wear t-shirts as blindsperhaps communication would have also given them some problems.

The children surpass those parents. Artemis is a younger mission than Apollo, but it has already surpassed it in many aspects. Although the Artemis II astronauts have carried out a mission very similar to that of Apollo 10, they have gone further, breaking his record and, furthermore, they will possibly also surpass them in speed when they enter our planet again. It is a more advanced mission, but without mysterious music or whistles. It’s progress, but also a little more boring.

Image | POT

In Xataka | The Artemis II astronauts will carry out experiments in what will be their own study models

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