I realise this is a trite observation, but it never ceases to amaze me that it took just 22 years from the beginning of space exploration to walking on the moon.
Sputnik wore out and spiraled back to Earth
On re-entry it burned up very soon
Hail and good-bye to that goose in the sky...
And in 12 more years a man walked on the Moon!
I find it far from trite, I'm continuously amazed by this as well.
1. Walking on the moon implied a return trip which requires an extra ~3km/s.
2. Under the rocket equation the fuel requirements for more delta v grows superlinearly, which then awkwardly makes your rocket bigger, which requires more fuel...
3. 22 years prior a metal can went to space. The scale of a manned moon mission in comparison is absolutely nuts, even basic things like having rocket motors that can be relit is a large technical challenge.
Addendum to point 3. It's not just a metal can, it's a metal can with some people in it. You have to keep them alive and useful for roughly a week, not just fling them at the moon.
Incorrect. Orbital mechanics were not a part of the V2 era programs because they were sub-orbital with relatively simple parabolic trajectories. Getting a capsule back from LEO was not something that had been worked out mathematically until later.
No, it’s actually the opposite. Re read. If you compare an actually LEO capable vehicle and a moon lander of the same payload, you’ll see that the difference is not that big.
Saturn had a massive payload, hence the gap in difficulty.
But my point anyway was that Saturn V is not 1000x larger than a soyouz, despite the moon being 1000x further away. Distance is not what counts in space.
Well when did you ever hear of a space agency bothering?
Jokes aside, I hadn't heard the term before and from what I could guess/infer didn't see how it could be a measure between two places: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta-v
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-mZ9pKvCmk - "Surprise!"
I find it far from trite, I'm continuously amazed by this as well.