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Show me Salt Lake Tribune, Saturday, July 2 31. 1971 Apollos Astros Hope to Beg, Borrow Slice of Lunar Crust Today , i 1 By Bill Stockton tist - astronaut who is a member of the Apollo 15 backup crew, said at a press briefing Friday shortly before Scott and Irwin began their descent to the moon. Schmitt, a lunar geology expert, explained that formation of the Mare Imbrium or Sea of Rains began early in the moons history when a large object from space struck the primitive lunar hole. The crust, gouging a hole later was filled with lava welling up from the lunar interior. "The Apennine front represents one of the upthrown rings of mountains that were created by this Imbrium impact event. he said, "If one part was thrown base Saturday, theyll probably be withm reach of achieving what has become a major goal of the lunar exploration program: retrieving a piece of the moons primitive crust. And geologists hope that after the lunar explorers find tire sought-afte- r locks and stow them in sample bags, they will be able to survey the towering slopes and find some clue as to how they w ere formed. t "We hope we can start to understand just what happened in the early days of Hie formation of the moon a body in the solar s stem of a composition similar to earth, Dr. Harrison Schmitt, a scien A Pennine's Associated Press Writer - SPACi! CENTUR, HOUSTON' They jut upwards 15, COO feet from the moon's Sea of Rains, a spectacle unlike anything ever seen on earth. Perhaps the closest thing to them might be locking up at the Sierra NevadoS from the bottom of Death Valley. They're called the Apennine Mounnamed decades ago after the tains mountainous spine of Italy to which in fact they bear very little resemblance. When Apollo 15 astronauts David R. Scott- - and James B. Irwin drive to the CS Z' ' -- die mountains up. Perhaps the evidence will indicate the mountains were formed by intense volcanic activity. Almost as bieathtaking as the Apennines will be Hadlev Rilie. the 1.200-fo- deep gorge winding southward at die mountains base that Scott and Irwin will look into for the first time Saturday. "We want to sample edges of the rilie. photograph the walls and visually try t0 - -- - pf 5CT ..ka 4ng nuui am iiu w rhipR thpr the rille's origin was. Schmitt said. After returning to their lunar lander Saturday, Scott and Irwin will spend ahout two hours deploying a nuclear, powered science station. what happened. "And its extremely important to fue know this because in the ture of the human species we hare to know more about where our materials for civilization are. And the original distribution of these materials was locked up in this early time. Perhaps Scott and Irwin will see or e er. be able to get a sample from a cliff or ouicrop formed when die basin was carved and the mountains thrust up. Or maybe theyll discover evidence the mountains were formed by a more the lunar crust earthly mechanism parted and deep internal force? thrust long-tar.g- IN SUGAR H8USE jApennine Mountains 7 up ard the inner part of the basin thrown down, it should have exposed a section of lunar crust. Just how much of a section of lunar crust we dont know. Studying the primitive lunar cru-- t not only will w rite a chapter in the histt y of the moon, Schmitt sa d, but w ill w me a heretofore missing chapter in trie history of the earth. "The basic question is what happened on the earth m the first Dillion or two years of its history, Schmitt said. The processes that have taken place within the earth's crust erosion, deposition of mountains and volcanic action hae pretty well masked most f the clues of tv SATURDAY ..sS. ONLY-- 10 1 A. I'll TO S RM! y. -- A yt.A I 3 ; & j 41 t a ag X 0 v xteLy--vf&Lisg - Sjl Pr irSirrxHadley . , t W'-- . c Rilie ' ' " i K Fv a , 5- V J W iV f o Associated , I 3 r Artist conception shows pth of lunar lander as it approached and touched down on moon surface j Press Drewin near Hadley Rilie, below Apennine Mountains. Astros David R. Scott, James B. Irwin manned it. , Rover Rolls on Lunar Surface Today After Safe, Accurate Moon Lauding f Continued from Page One I can see some debris, which is interesting. I can see an old deep crater. smooth, which cant be more than 60 or 7Q meters away. I think that was one of the craters I was avoiding coming in. I tliliik that may be November. "pounds like were in business, old said Joseph Allen from Mission friend, Contol. Allen is a scientist astronaut. I think we may be in business all right, replied the man on the moon. Tte Falcon came to rest on the lunar surface at about a nine degree angle, but the Astronauts said the hit over didnt bother them. $gs!on Centro made a reference to their epacecraft as a portable leaning to',jer,of Pisa, but Scott objected. he said, Oh, its no leaning that much. We really dont even notice it." wenf on. Sip Cold Tomato Soup After the moon explorers doffed their spacesuits, they sipped cold tomato soup for djnn.er. Scott looked out the window and began spotting strange rocks. ftey, listen, said Scott, I gotta tell you about a rock. Its dark. Black. This one really looks like a jewel. Its just on a crater rim. Minutes later, he saw a crystal sphere and again Interrupted his dinner. I see what seems to be a round glass ball, he called, his voice excited. "It casts a shadow. Its about an inch thick or so. Worden, aboard Endeavour, passed o erhead as the moon landers were preparing for bed. He asked about the land- ... craft. Give us another five minutes here well be ready to go, said Scott. A minute later he asked for 10 min- and utes. elecWorden, becoming an into a tunnel in the top cabin and found that tne electrical cable powering had come machinery loose. Worden tigntened the connection and the two craft then separated smoothly. feet. trician, crawled of Endeavours an umbilical the separation Contact' shouted Scott and the Falcon was down. Passe Over Falcoa V orden, orbiting 60 miles overhead in Endeavour, passed over the Falcon minutes after the landing. He tried to find the landing module among the craters and boulders. He reported he could not pick it out, but said, I had a beautiful view of the landing Prevents Schedule Change It was 20 minutes before Worden discovered and repaired the problem but Mission Control said he had done so in comtime to prevent any change in plicated schedule for the rest of tne mission. Mission Control said, too, that the separation difficulty would create no problems for the landing and would present the astronauts with no danger during ttfc rest of their space flight. An hour after the two ships parted, Worden triggered Endeavours main engine for four seconds to move into a higher orbit ranging from 63 to 75 miles above he surface. This put h'm in position in case Falcon has an emergency and must conduct a rendezvous mission to get back to the mother ship. The higher path also was tailored to the scientific and photographic experiments he planned during three days alone in orbit. The loose power cable was another in a long string of minor problems which stretch back almost to Mondays launch. The astronauts had arrived in lunar orbit Thursday, for example, only after learning to bypass a short c'rcuit in the main rocket and fire the engine manually. And on V ednesday night they had had to repau a sudden leak from the water site. Scott and Irwin surveyed the landing from the Falcon's windows. We're not too far from Salyut, said Scott. 1 did find that. Salyut is a crater le-- s than a quarter mile from the center of the landing zone. It was named in honor of the Sovie manned space station. Falcon Mission Control announced apparently landed about 300 feet north and 300 feet east of the center of the landing zone, well within the 8,000-loo- t, watermelon - shaped target area, n A few minutes after touchdown, t Control read a message to the astronauts from President Nixon. area Mis-s!o- Nixon Sends Congratulations The President sends his congratulations to the entire ground crew and the ing. Apollo 15 crew for a successful landing, Hey, said Scott. It was super. it read, and sends his best wishes for TEey chatted a moment and then the rest of the mission. . Irwin ipoke. We also than the team for the supfipodnight, Al," he said. port they gave us, responded Scott. Thank the President, said Worden Take Care of Everything from the Endeavour. Good night, James, said Worden. Scott and Irwin were obvioulv excitTnu keeping your sleeping bag warm ed by the dramatic moonscape just outhere. side dieir spacecraft windows. "Take care of everything up there for Scott compared it to the rugged site us, asked Irwin. where Apollo 14 landed and added: In came the voice from this kind of terrain you can hardly see Certainly, Above. over your eyebrows. Endeavour fleeted on in its moon He told Mission Control later: You orbit. The talk died away an the astrobetter tell the geologists in the back nauts climbed into hammocks for the room to get ready because we've really night. got something for them. The landing earlier in the day, beMission Control and the rest of the tween the mountains and a canyon called world could follow the landing only by Hadley Rilie, went smoothly, and came s'nind. The landing was not televised and well within ihe target area. no television of the landing site was planned until Scott and Irwins first Drops in Curving Arc moor, excursion Saturday morning. Falcon's engine burned 12 minutes as To Make 3 Excursions It descended over the moon's Apennine The moon visitors will spend 87 hours Mountains and then dropped in a steep in the vfllsy of the Apennine. They will arc. curving make three excursions in a moon car ScOtt and Irwin calmly read off data called Rover 1. the tirst beginning at 7:24 and altitude readings as the Falcons enMDT Saturday, and will gathe 250 a.m. the its power, slowing gine thundered pounds of moon rock, more than all the crafi for its precise touchdown. You may be a little south of the previous lunar expeditions combined. Scott announced the failure of the first site, said Mission Control as they apattempt to unlock the two spacecraft as proached the surface. Apollo 15 reappeared from behind the Okay, said Scott. Coming right. lie took control of the craft from the moon. We did not get separation, the Apoi-l- o en board computer ard began guiding 15 commander said. toward a mere accurate landing. f The power wasn't Rowing into later Irwin began counting M; fronts Worden said, referring to the probe, docking mechanism which joins the two 900 feet, 800, 700, down by hundreds 300 feet. 600 At 15 feet, Irwin called out 6 percent fuel left. Got some dust, called Scott, as the dirt of the valley of the Apennine was disturbed by -- man for the first time. Ten feet, Irwin droned on. Eight tg Values to 5.00 2 for 3.00 15 1 Values to 10.00 Infants, Toddlers, Jrs. DOORS OPEN ONLY! AT 10 A.M, katj 10 A.M. D00RCRASHER SATURDAY 1 69 PANTIES 4$1 GIRLS' SCOOTER SETS Values to 6.00 2 OFF 099 099 Popular Colors K 1 NYLON Values to 89c Brief dr Bikini YOUNGTIMER'S CLEARANCE , VSS su-fa- ce A W--r 10 A.M. D00RCRASHER SATURDAY ONLY! FAMOUS QUILTED BEDSPREADS Twins, Full, Queen and Kin? sizes at a special low price. VALUES TO 50.00 last-minu- te , Values to 3.00 Regs, and Slims LADIES' FAMOUS MAKE BRAS supply. The astronauts earlier Thursday got a fleeting glimpse of their landing target and toVl Mission Control The area in general looks pre.ty good. There are no big boulders, said Scott. There were a fair amount of boulders in the rilie. Most of the seemed fairly .subdued and rounded. They beamed earthward a televised view of die landing site. The picture clearly showed a basin filled with an irregular patchwork of craters, boulders and flat, smootn areas which Scott said would be fine spots for parking Falcon. The moon mission commander said he could also pick out Index Crater, the main landmark Scott used for touchguidance to an down. The astronauts awoke Friday morning to find their spacecraft had dropped three miles in its orbit of the moor. The it regular lunar gravity overnight had pulled the spacecraft lower in its moon revolutions than expected. A rocket firing wap needed to raise the craft to its planned altitude. Mission Control xairl Falcon was about 4.5 miles south of the planned flight path, but this was corrected in the final descent. f 2J5 Values to 5.50 Short Sleeves UDIES' BOYS' DENIM JEANS MEN'S SPORT SHIRTS ! J SUPPORT HOSIERY eSQQ u I Censored Label from our lower level Budget Dept . . . COMPARE 10 4.95 If Perfect. 4 IV |
