On the Moon

This book explains how the Apollo crews learned to work on the lunar surface. Its lively and informative text draws heavily on transcripts and photographs to illustrate points. It puts the reader on the lunar surface with the astronauts.

Public interest in the first lunar landing transcended political, economic and social borders the world was briefly united by the courage of the crew, and the wonder of the accomplishment. Prompted by the rivalry of the Cold War, Apollo 11 and the five missions that subsequently landed on the Moon were arguably the finest feats of exploration in human history.

But these were more than exercises in 'flags and footprints', because the missions involved the crews making geological field trips on a low gravity site while wearing pressure suits, carrying life-support systems on their backs and working against an unforgiving time line. The missions delivered not only samples of moonrock, but also hard-learned lessons for how to work on the surface of another planet, and this experience will be crucial to planning the resumption of the human exploration of the Moon and going on to Mars.

Describes the challenging yet exhilarating lunar environment facing the Apollo astronauts Reveals their courageous, sometimes creative and occasionally humorous adaptation to the field conditions on another planet Provides excerpts from the mission transcripts in which the Apollo astronauts on the lunar surface discuss their progress between themselves and with their colleagues on Earth Explains how each Apollo landing site was selected, why it was expected to contribute to the study of the history of the Moon, and how our views evolved as the program proceeded Includes post-mission and recent interviews in which the astronauts recall their thoughts not only during their missions but also after more than 25 years of reflection Uses carefully selected photographs to illustrate the stark beauty of the lunar surface

Autorentext

Grant Heiken worked for NASA during the Apollo and Skylab Programs, in the Lunar Receiving Laboratory, as a geology instructor in the astronaut training program, and conducting independent research on lunar surface processes, including volcanism. He is a co-editor of "Lunar SourcebookA User's Guide to the Moon" (Cambridge University Press). In 1975 he moved to the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (now the Los Alamos National Laboratory) in New Mexico, where he worked in geothermal exploration and development, volcanic hazard analysis, the uses of volcanic rocks, basic research in explosive volcanism, and integrated urban science.

Eric Jones has a lifetime background in space exploration-related science. He visited NASA Johnson in 1988 to examine transcripts of the Apollo missions in an effort to understand what is involved in getting work done on the Moon. Subsequent discussions with Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt led to the idea of creating the "Apollo Lunar Surface Journal" to document the activities of the Apollo lunar surface crews in a manner analogous to the exploration journals of Captain James Cook and others. During 1989-92, he conducted minute-by-minute mission reviews with nine of the twelve moonwalking astronauts so that readers of the could understand, in detail, what was done, how it was done, and how the crews trained before hand. Portions of the Journal first appeared on the World Wide Web in 1995 and, although all of the transcripts and astronaut comments had been added by 1998, photographs, background documents, and additional commentary are still being added in mid-2006. The Journal is hosted by NASA at http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj and is generally considered to be the authoritative source for information about the activities of the lunar surface crews. In Heiken and Jones we have the ideal authors for this project.

Inhalt
Adapting to a New World.- Pinpoint Landing, Great Science, and a Lot of Fun.- A Damned Hard Walk Followed by a Little Golf.- The Lunar Dune Buggy.- Drilling Troubles.- The Descartes Highlands High Land But No Volcanoes.- The Volcanoes of Taurus-Littrow Explosive Volcanism on the Moon.- Boulder Rolling the Last Apollo EVA.- Lessons from Apollo for Future Operations on the Moon.