# Question about Lunar astronauts communications with Earth **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 13, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunar-astronauts-communications-with-earth/553657 "2010-09-13T21:27:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunar-astronauts-communications-with-earth/553657/1 "2010-09-13T21:27:11Z")
If the Lunar command module had been destroyed while the LEM was on the Moon. Could the Lunar astronauts still have communicated with Houston still. In other words did the Command module act as a relay station or did they communicate with their own equipment? It’s for a RPG game i’m running. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunar-astronauts-communications-with-earth/553657/2 "2010-09-13T21:36:25Z")
> [@DeptfordX](#): > > If the Lunar command module had been destroyed while the LEM was on the Moon. Could the Lunar astronauts still have communicated with Houston still. In other words did the Command module act as a relay station or did they communicate with their own equipment? > > It’s for a RPG game i’m running. I don’t know but a alternative would be that the LEM lost all communications, which may have the same effect you desire. ---
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunar-astronauts-communications-with-earth/553657/3 "2010-09-13T21:49:29Z")
We’re heading into the final part of a alternative universe Superhero game set in the 70’s. The background is that the Apollo 11 command module was destroyed by a particle beam weapon from the secret Nazi colony on the dark side of the moon, stranding Armstrong and Aldrin on the surface. I was wondering if they would be able to communicate their plight or if Houston would lose all contact and nobody would know why. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunar-astronauts-communications-with-earth/553657/4 "2010-09-13T22:06:11Z")
Even if the equipment wasn’t designed for that, they could almost certainly jerry-rig something that would do the trick. It wouldn’t do them much good, though, since a rescue mission would still be impossible. And they wouldn’t know any more about what happened to the command module than Houston would, in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunar-astronauts-communications-with-earth/553657/5 "2010-09-13T22:43:57Z")
And NASA were fully prepared to have Aldrin & Armstrong die there - there was a speech prepared for the President & everything. ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunar-astronauts-communications-with-earth/553657/6 "2010-09-13T22:44:37Z")
Yes, telemetry, TV, voice, and range communications with Earth were all via the S-band antenna which the astronauts set up on the lunar surface. ---
**Author:** ![US\_Bureau\_of\_Labor\_Statistics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c2a13f/32.png) [@US\_Bureau\_of\_Labor\_Statistics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/US_Bureau_of_Labor_Statistics)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunar-astronauts-communications-with-earth/553657/7 "2010-09-14T00:17:45Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > And NASA were fully prepared to have Aldrin & Armstrong die there - there was a speech prepared for the President & everything. Here’s the text of the speech. [http://gawker.com/5369364/william-safires-finest-speech](http://gawker.com/5369364/william-safires-finest-speech) ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunar-astronauts-communications-with-earth/553657/8 "2010-09-14T02:24:12Z")
> [@DeptfordX](#): > > In other words did the Command module act as a relay station or did they communicate with their own equipment? They used their own equipment. Even without the command module getting destroyed, remember that it was on the other side of the moon half the time. For the lunar astronauts to be without communication for so long would have been ridiculously unacceptable. And in fact, when Armstrong first walked, and the whole planet Earth heard his famous first words, the CM was on the far side, and Michael Collins didn’t hear it until some time later. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunar-astronauts-communications-with-earth/553657/9 "2010-09-14T02:28:24Z")
Lunar command module and the LEM communicated to each other on VHF and both to earth on S band. ---
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunar-astronauts-communications-with-earth/553657/10 "2010-09-14T08:57:39Z")
Ok, great guys, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunar-astronauts-communications-with-earth/553657/11 "2010-09-14T10:50:51Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > And NASA were fully prepared to have Aldrin & Armstrong die there - there was a speech prepared for the President & everything. And one in case they were eaten by space-bugs.