New Orleans (LPH 11) - Naval Cruise Book

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The astronauts also carried out experiments during this period to determine lunar gravity pull, the Moon's electromagnetic properties and an Apollo Window Meteroid Test to determine the effect of space particles on surfaces. Shortly after the spacecraft went into lunar orbit, the astronauts began photographing the Southern Highland, north of the crater Descartes, which is one of the several sites under consideration for future long-stay Moon missions. The Descartes area is scientifically interesting from the standpoint of determining the age and composition of the highland surface material as well as estimating volcanism time spans and compositional trends. Luriar surface touchdown was scheduled for 4:16 a.m. EST February 5,1971. The next major phase of the Apollo 14 mission was the lunar landing descent phase, which involved the undock- ing and separating the LEM Antares from the Command Module Kitty Hawk. The site where the astronauts landed was designated the Fra Mauro formation, and offered a widespread geo- logical area covering large portions of the lunar surface around Mare lmbrium, commonly referred to as the Sea of Rains. The Apollo 14 Moon landing site of Fra -Mauro was the same as selected for the aborted Apollo 13 mission. But the site was not re-selected for that reason or overnight. The Fra Mauro area became interesting to the space scientists when seisometers relayed back to Earth signals of monthly Moonquakes believed to have origi- nated in the Fra Mauro crater area as the Moon passed through its perigee. These Moonquakes were felt 110 miles to the west at Surveyor crater where the seismometers left by the Apollo 12 astronauts measured the quakes' intensity. The exact Apollo 14 landing site was about 30 miles north of the Fra Mauro crater, having the coordinates of three degrees 40' and 19 south latitude by 17 degrees 27' and 46 west longitude. The 700-mile wide Mare lmbrium is the largest recog- nizable impact structure on the Moon, and is thought to have been formed by the major impact of a huge mass colliding with the Moon during the period when the Earth and planets were forming. The Fra Mauro forma- tion is believed to be made up of the refuse thrown out from that impact. The area is characterized by ridges a few hundred feet high which radiate from the lmbrium basin separated by valleys. The initial refuse thrown out by the collision or ejecta blanket is now buried by younger rubble and lunar soil churned up by recent meteorite impacts and possibly Moonquakes. . For this reason, the Fra Mauro site is believed to be where the age of the Moon may be found. That is primarily why the 96 pounds of Moon rocks picked up by Astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell are so important. Fra Mauro debris may have come from as deep as a 100 miles below the original lunar crust, and the Apollo 14 mission lunar samples should indicate when the lmbrium basin was formed and help to establish the age and physical-chemical nature of the pre-impact material from deep in the Moon's crust. lt is theorized that the Fra Mauro rocks will predate the Apollo 11 f4.6 billion yearsj and the Apollo 12 samples f3.5 billion yearsj and add yet another batch of statistical data that will make the Apollo 14 Moon mission that much more meaningful. During the first EVA or Moon walk, which came approximately five hours ,after landing on the lunar sur- face, Astronauts Alan Shepardiand Edgar Mitchell spent most of their time setting up experimental projects, which would remain on the Moon to transmit scientific data back to Earth for the Manned Space Flight Network on a long-term physical and experimental properties basis. This information will be correlated with known Earth information for further knowledge on the origins of Earth and the Moon. j During the time Astronauts Mitchell and Shepard' were roaming the lunar surface they gathered some 96 pounds of Moon rocks and took numerous photographs of surface formations. Meanwhile, high in the command module, 60 miles up, Stuart Roosa conducted many radio signal transmission experiments and photographed the lunar surface from his low angle. Approximately 33-M hours after setting down on the Moon's surface Shepard and Mitchell climbed back into their LEM and ascended into lunar orbit and successfully docked with the command module, manned by Roosa. After the docking, the LEM was sent into a deorbit and deliberately crashed on the lunar surface, where its impact was measured and transmitted back to Earth by the ALSEP instruments. A few 'hours later-, the -astronauts made their transearth injection and turned their command module Kitty Hawk homeward.

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Pre-launch activities for Apollo 14 actually began months and even years in advance when NASA and the U.S. government released contracts for the building of the rocket, space capsule, and LEM. But most important of the actual Cape Kennedy activities began six days before the day of lift off. During this period jan. 25-31, 1971 highly skilled Cape l l Kennedy technicians completed the work on the electri- cal circuitry and perfected the space vehicle ignition equipment. Once the mechanical buildup of space- components was accomplished the final phase of fueling the command, service and lunar landing modules was completed. The official Cape Kennedy countdown started 28 hours before the designated launch time 13:23 p.m. EST on Sunday jan. 31, 19711 and continued to the T minus nine hour mark when a built-in 'hold went into effect. The fueling of the Saturn V rocket began eight hours prior to blast off. The fueling of Saturn V required four hours and 27 minutes to complete. With four hours and 17 minutes prior to lift off, the Apollo 14 astronauts were awakened. They underwent a brief medical examination before arriving at the launch pad. Approximately two hours and 40 minutes before the launch, astronauts Shepard, Roosa and Mitchell climbed into the capsule. . .their home for the next nine days. Once inside, astronaut Alan Shepard proceeded to check out the Emergency Detection System with the launch team on the ground. This check took place at T minus one hour and 51 minutes. The launch was delayed some 40 minutes at the T minus eight minute mark due to adverse weather con- 'W ...Laughing ditions in the form of thunder storm activity around Cape Kennedy. Since lightning struck the Apollo 12 rocket in November 1969, NASA has ruled no lift offs will be attempted in adverse weather. So the NASA technicians waited for the bulk of the storm to pass before giving Apollo 14 a Go at 4:05 p.m. EST on Sunday january 31, 1971. At T minus five minutes the Apollo access arm, the last hold on the spacecraft, was retracted. With 3:06 left to blast off, the Firing Command began in automatic sequence. This automatic count con- tinued until lift off. With 8.9 seconds to lift-off, the actual ignition sequence started. When the big Saturn V rocket roared off the pad, at Kennedy Space Center Complex 39A amidst bellowing smoke and flames, it was on an azimuth of 72 degrees, or in a direction which, if not corrected, would take the spacecraft past the Moon if no further maneuvers were initiated. Downrange and after the 11 minute mark Go Ahead for Earth orbit, the astronauts tried docking and encountered some difficulties in the spacecraft's latching mechanism. The difficulties were later corrected and the mission was on. At approximately 30-and-one-half-hours Ground Elapsed Time CC-ETD the spacecraft changed course to produce the desired conditions for altitude, time and sun angle for lunar orbit. Lunar orbit was accomplished about 60 hours later. Once in lunar orbit, the astronauts began the primary mission objectives, not the landing but the all important photography of possible future Moon landing sites. '-

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There were five scientific experiments left ony the Moon by the Apollo 14 astronauts. They were: Passive Seismic Experiment QPSE1, Active Seismic Experiment CASE1, Suprathermal lon Detector CSIDE1, Cold Cathod lon Gage ICCIG1, and Charged Particle Lunar Environ- mental Experiment lCPLEE1. One additional experiment was deployed near the other experiments, the Laser Ranging Retro-Reflector ILRRR of LR31. The ASE, SIDE, CCIG and CPLEE experiments were all part of the robot laboratory called ALSEP, meaning Apollo Lunar Scientific Experiment Package. Nearly the entire first Moon walk period of Apollo was taken up to establish it. The seismometer and most of the other experiments in that package were designed to continue operation for at least one year after the astronauts' departure from the Moon. A small nuclear power gener- ator in ALSEP is providing the necessary electricity for operating the instruments, the heaters that keep them warm during the cold two-week-long lunar night and the automated radio transmitter than relays information to Earth. PASSIVE SEISMIC EXPERIMENT The PSE will measure seismic activity of the Moon and gather and relay information to Earth on the physical properties of the lunar crust and interior. The PSE will report seismic data on the man-made impacts fLM ascent stage1, natural impacts of meteorites, and Moonquakes. Dr. Gary Latham of the Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory is responsible for the PSE design and sub- sequent experiment analysis. A similiar PSE, deployed as part of the Apollo 12 experiments near Surveyor Crater in November 1969, has transmitted to Earth data on lunar surface seismic events since that time. However, another seismometer left at Tranquillity Base in july 1969 by Apollo 11 was powered by solar cells and could transmit data only during the lunar day. It is no longer functioning. When Apollo 14 made its translunar injection, they sent the spent S-IVB stage and the instrument unit to the Moon. This stimulated the passive seismometer near Sur- veyor Crater. A The S-IVB unit weighed 30,836 pounds and when it hit the Moon, it was traveling about 4,942 nautical miles per hour. It provided an energy source at impact equiva- lent to about 11 tons of TNT. After Shepard and Mitchell had made their rendezvous with the command module, the lunar module ascent stage was jettisoned and later ground-commanded :to impact on the lunar surface about 32 statute miles from the Apollo 14 landing site at Fra Mauro. ACTIVE SEISMIC EXPERIMENT The Active Seismic .experiment QASE1 produced data on the physical structure and bearing strength of the lunar surface by measuring seismic waves. There were two types of man-made seismic sources used with the ASE: a crew-actuated pyrotechnic thumper and a mortar-like device from which four rocket propelled projectiles could be launched by command from Earth. Naturally produced seismic events will be detected passively by the ASE. The seismic waves are tested by geophones deployed by the crew. Data on wave penetration, fre- quency spectra and velocity to lunar depths' of 500 feet will be obtained and passed to the Apollo Lunar Scientific Experimental Package central station for trans- mittal to Earth. Dr. Robert Kovach of Stanford Uni- versity is the Principal Investigator. The mortar like device was deployed, aligned and acti- vated about 10 feet northwest of the ALSEP central station. The four grenade-like projectiles were to be launched sometime after the crew returned. The crew fired 21 thumper charges at 15 foot inter- vals along a geophone line that they set up at 10, 160 and 310 feet from the ALSEP central station. The thumper serves as a storage and transport rack for the geophones and their connecting cable. SUPRATHERMAL ION DETECTOR EXPERIMENT AND COLD CATHODE ION GAUGE EXPERIMENT The Suprathermal lon Detector Experiment CSIDE1 will measure flux, composition, energy and velocity of low energy positive ions and the high energy solar wind flux of positive ions. Combined with the SIDE is the Cold Cathode lon Gage Experiment CCCIG1. It analyzes gases which are escaping from the rocks and the Moon's interior in minute quantities or gases arriving on the Moon from the Sun. Data gathered by the SIDE will yield the following information: Q11 interaction between ions reaching the Moon from outer space and captured by lunar gravity and those ions that escape, 121 whether or not secondary ions are generated by ions impacting the lunar surface, Q31 whether volcanic processes exist on the Moong C41 effects of the ambient electric field, Q51 loss rate of contaminants left in the landing area by the LEM and the crew, and 161 ambient lunar atmosphere pressure. Dr. john Freeman of Rice University is the SIDE Principal Investigator and Dr. Francis S. johnson of the University of Texas is the CCIG Principal Investigator. CHARGED PARTICLE LUNAR ENVIRONMENT EXPERIMENT The Charged Particle Lunar Environment Experiment QCPLEE1 is designed to measure electrons and protons and other atomic particles that bombard the Moon from space. In this way, the CPLEE is a step toward answering the perplexing questions about the workings of the Earth's magnetic environment. Dr. Brian j. O'Brian of the University of Sidney is the Principal Investigator. LASER RANGING RETRO-REFLECTOR EXPERIMENT The Laser Ranging Retro-Reflector ,Experiment QLRRR1 consists of 100 reflective quartz cubes which the astronauts adjusted so they face toward the Earth. Con- centrated light beams from lasers can be directed from Earth to the instrument which reflects them back to Earth. By measuring the time consumed for the roundtrip, scientists can determine Earth-Moon distances, and also distances between points on Earth, with unprecedented precision. By timing the roundtrip time for the laser pulse to reach the LRRR and return, observatories on Earth can calculate the exactdistance from the observatory to the LRRR location on the Moon within a tolerance of 15 cm. A similiar LRRR was deployed at Tranquility Scientific Experiments Package QEASEP1. The goal is to set up LRRR's at three lunar locations to establish abso- lute control points in the study of Moon motion. The LRRR will additionally be used in the study of fluctuations in the Earth's rotation rate, wobbling motions of the Earth on its axis, the Moon's size and orbital shape, and the possibility of a slow decrease in the gravitational constant G , Dr. james Faller of Wesleyan University is the LRRR Principal Investigator. .-111' 3. lj ll l . I I I 1 gl 4 1 i I I I I l