It didn't seem that Tommy Lee Jones did a whole to me at the end...they just started up the rockets and away he went...couldn't they have just sent the rockets off without him? Even without him the rockets wouldn't have never really been "launched" from their platform but they still would've just kept going out into outerspace. right?
shareNo. I had to watch the explanation of this part a few times too understand it as well. Tommy Lee Jones had to go with the rockets because he had to fire the warheads off with only one Pam rocket at the right time, because if he fired too soon Earth's gravity would pull them back, and too late he would be stuck with them. So a person had to go with the warheads to do that. If they had all the original 4 Pam rockets, it would have made it on its own, but they got damaged when ICON crashed into the shuttle.
shareOk, I never got the "he would be stuck with them" part. So? Then he'd just be floating in space with them, right? He wasn't coming back either way ...
shareHe was dying of cancer. How would you want to die? Rotting in a bed or on the moon?
Signatures? We don't need no stinkin signatures.
That is not what I meant. What I did not understand was-how would it be a negative thing if he "got stuck" with the rockets.....?
shareAhh, then he wouldn't have made it to the moon.
Signatures? We don't need no stinkin signatures.
Yeah...what I'm saying is like they said if he fired too late he'd be stuck with them...but if they just took the pam rocket and set it to fly away from earth and just let it go till it burned out the missles would just be floating out in space. They didn't really need the guy sitting in it...they could've just had a timer or set the rocket to go from the shuttle...
shareDid you read my previous post?
He was dying of cancer. How would you want to die? Rotting in a bed or on the moon?
They were the original test pilots that started the space program. They never got the chance to go to space much less the moon. So Tommy Lee knew he had cancer and figured it was his only chance to go to the moon. Even if it meant dying there. Now do you get it?
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I'm not a phsics expert, I might get some terms wrong etc. but bear with me.
In case someone didn't understand the point, why there had to be a live pilot:
You have to reach a ertain speed called "escape velocity" to escape Earth gravity.
One rocket didn't have enough power to do so, and when it would have given out, gravity would have kicked in, and the Nukes would have slammed on Earth.
But by using the moons gravitational pull, he could have managed it.
That's why Tommy Lee jones needed to "pilot" it, since someone had to judge WHEN to start the rockets. meaning, when Moon would be in collision coure, once he activated the rockets.
Now it is very dubious that he could have "calculated" or estaimated that right.
The moon is revolving with speed around Earth and .... well it should be very hard.
I guess probably as hard as thrwoing a ball from one car that drives at 100mph to antoher car that drives at 200mph.
For the first time. Of course it might be actually easier or very much harder for him, but I think you get the idea.
"I have the higher ground"
"what's that supposed to mean?"