50th Anniversary of the Apollo Program

[The Chronicler]

From November 14 to November 24 (last Thursday to next Sunday) is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 12 mission, the second successful landing of a crewed spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. The astronauts who flew on this mission were commander Pete Conrad (previously flew on Gemini 5 and Gemini 11, and would latter fly on the first crew of the Skylab space station (which involved repairing extensive damage from its launch)), CM pilot Dick Gordon (his last mission in space, previously flew on Gemini 11, was scheduled for Apollo 18 as commander before it was cancelled) and LM pilot Alan Bean (his first mission in space, would later fly on the second crew of the Skylab space station). The names of the modules for this mission were Yankee Clipper for the Command Module and Intrepid for the Lunar Module. The backup crew for this mission would later fly on Apollo 15.

When the Saturn V rocket carrying this mission launched under poor weather conditions on November 14, it encountered the highest winds of any Apollo launch and was struck by lighting twice within the first minute, shutting off many electronics which could have led to the launch being aborted, but some quick thinking by one guy at mission control helped Alan Bean restore power. The LM landed on November 19 in the southeastern part of the Ocean of Storms, only 600ft (less than 200m) away from the Surveyor 3 robotic probe that had landed two and a half years earlier, proving the Apollo lunar lander was capable of precise landings. When Pete Conrad took his first step onto the lunar surface, he said, "Whoopie! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me." (He claimed it was to settle a bet with a reporter that astronauts aren't given scripted lines written by NASA.) This mission brought the first color TV camera to the Moon, but before it was even fully set up, Alan Bean accidentally pointed it at the sun and destroyed it, resulting in very little video being broadcasted of this landing. In addition to setting up scientific equipment and collecting a total of 75.7lb (34.35kg) of lunar samples, they also recovered parts of the Surveyor 3 probe, which supposedly was later discovered to have microbes from Earth that were still alive after years on the lunar surface. After two EVAs (each lasting less than four hours for a total of 7 hours and 45 minutes), the LM ascent stage lifted off on November 20. On the way back to Earth, the three astronauts were able to witness and photograph an eclipse of the sun by Earth. The CM successfully splashed down on November 24.

[The Chronicler]

From April 11 to April 17 (last Saturday to this Friday) is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission, which was to be the third attempted landing on the Moon, but an explosion in the Service Module two days into the mission forced them to abort the landing and eventually made a successful return to Earth. The astronauts who flew on this mission were commander Jim Lovell (his last mission in space, previously flew on Gemini 7, Gemini 12, and Apollo 8), CM pilot Jack Swigert (his only mission in space, was part of the backup crew and replaced Ken Mattingly, who had to be pulled after being exposed to rubella), and LM pilot Fred Haise (his only mission in space, was scheduled to fly on Apollo 19 before it was cancelled, later flew the test space shuttle Enterprise). The names of the modules for this mission were Odyssey for the Command Module and Aquarius for the Lunar Module. The backup crew for this mission (with Ken Mattingly in place of Jack Swigert) would later fly on Apollo 16.

During launch, one of the five second-stage engines shut off, but the other engines were enough to keep them on the correct trajectory. On April 13, just a few minutes after the crew finished a TV broadcast (which none of the networks were willing to show due to how seemingly boring the Apollo missions had become by then), a routine maintenance task of stirring the oxygen tanks resulted in some faulty wiring triggering an explosion, causing the loss of much of the oxygen and power supply to the CM.

With a Moon landing definitely aborted, the mission now became simply bringing the astronauts back home alive. With the CM's limited supply necessary for the final moments before reentry, the crew had to shut off its systems and switch on the systems for the LM, essentially using it as a lifeboat. At that point on their flight path, the quickest way to return home with what little fuel they had was to swing around the Moon and use its gravity to slingshot them back to Earth (so, in a way, the explosion occurred at the perfect time to offer the best chance of the astronauts returning home alive). Along the way, with the LM designed to hold two men for two days now required to hold three men for four days, the crew had to carefully manage their resources, at one point forced to improvise a modified carbon-dioxide scrubber by fitting the CM's square canisters into the LM's round filter.

Prior to reentry, after powering up the CM, the SM was jettisoned first, allowing the crew to finally see the full extant of the damage. Then the LM was released, which was destroyed on reentry and impacted the ocean not far from where the CM safely slashed down on April 17. After the investigations identified the cause of the accident, improvements were made, though the next Apollo mission would not launch until almost a year later. The risks shown by this mission also contributed to the budget cuts that cancelled Apollo 19 and 18.

[The Chronicler]

From January 31 to February 9 (last Sunday to next Tuesday) is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 14 mission, the third successful landing of a crewed spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. The astronauts who flew on this mission were commander Alan Shepard (his last mission in space, previously flew on Project Mercury's Freedom 7 as the first American in space, also the oldest man to walk on the Moon at the age of 47), CM pilot Stuart Roosa (his only mission in space), and LM pilot Edgar Mitchell (his only mission in space). The names of the modules for this mission were Kitty Hawk for the Command Module and Antares for the Lunar Module. The backup crew for this mission was scheduled to later fly on Apollo 17, though LM pilot Joe Engle would later be replaced with Harrison Schmitt to ensure a geologist would have a chance to walk on the Moon.

This mission was originally scheduled to fly in July of 1970, but the cancellation of Apollo 20 and the investigation from the disaster of Apollo 13 pushed that back. The crew for this mission were originally scheduled for Apollo 13, but 13 and 14 swapped crews to ensure Alan Shepard had more time for training, as he had been unable to fly in space for a while due to a medical issue that was eventually resolved by surgery in 1969. The mission was originally schedule to land near the Littrow crater in the Mare Serenitatis, but was later changed to Apollo 13's intended landing site near the Cone crater in the Fra Mauro formation, as it was considered more scientifically interesting.

The launch occurred on January 31 after a 40 minute weather delay, and had the launch window been missed completely that day, the launch would've been postponed to March. The LM landed on February 5, despite a few technical issues on descent, with Shepard's first words upon setting foot on the Moon being, "And it's been a long way, but we're here." Shepard and Mitchell were unable to reach the Cone crater due to exhaustion from crossing rougher terrain than anticipated, emphasizing the need for the Lunar Roving Vehicle that would be used on all three remaining Apollo landings. Arguably the most memorable moment of this mission was when Shepard used an improvised tool to hit two golf balls across the lunar surface, with one of them going "miles and miles and miles". Throughout the two EVAs (each lasting around 4 hours and 40 minutes for a total of about 9 hours and 20 minutes), scientific equipment was set up and 94.35lb (42.8kg) of lunar samples were collected (including a rock recently determined to have been a meteorite that originated on Earth billions of years ago). The LM ascent stage lifted off on February 6 after being on the lunar surface for over 33 hours, and the CM successfully splashed down on February 9. Roosa had brought hundreds of tree seeds with him during the flight, which were later planted across the nation and the world as "Moon trees", many of which can still be seen today.

[The Chronicler]

From July 26 to August 7 (last Monday to next Saturday) is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 15 mission, the fourth successful landing of a crewed spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. The astronauts who flew on this mission were commander David Scott (his last mission in space, previously flew on Gemini 8 and Apollo 9), CM pilot Alfred Worden (his only mission in space), and LM pilot James Irwin (his only mission in space). The names of the modules for this mission were Endeavour for the Command Module and Falcon for the Lunar Module. The backup crew for this mission was scheduled to fly on Apollo 18 until that mission was cancelled due to budget cuts (one of whom, Vance Brand, would later fly on the Apollo-Soyuz mission and three Space Shuttle flights). Also of note, of the twelve men who walked on the lunar surface throughout the Apollo Program, James Irwin was the first to pass away in 1991.

This mission was originally scheduled to land near the Censorinus crater as the last non-extended mission, but due to later missions being cancelled, the landing site was moved to Hadley Rille and it became the first of three extended missions. As a result, this mission became the first one to include the use of the Lunar Roving Vehicle, which was folded up so it could fit within a small compartment of the LM's descent stage, each wheel was made of a metal wire mesh and powered by electric motors, and could travel at 6 to 8 mph (10 to 12 km/h), allowing the astronauts to cover much more ground during their Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVAs).

The launched occurred on the morning of July 26. The LM landed on July 30, possibly the hardest landing of all the Apollo missions due to Scott shutting off the engine 1.5 ft (0.5 m) from the surface, and it also settled at a slight angle due to landing upon the rim of a small crater. Scott's first words as he set foot upon the Moon were, "As I stand out here in the wonders of the unknown at Hadley, I sort of realize there's a fundamental truth to our nature. Man must explore. And this is exploration at its greatest." In the first EVA (which lasted 6 hours and 32 minutes on July 31), despite some difficulty deploying the lunar rover and the front wheels failing to turn (though fortunately the rear wheels could turn just fine), they were able to drive around and stopped at two different craters to collect samples before returning to the lander. In the second EVA (which lasted 7 hours and 12 minutes on August 1), with the rover's steering issue resolved, they drove to stopped at a few craters and large boulders to collect more samples (including the so-called "Genesis Rock"), finished setting up scientific equipment near the lander, and finally planted the U.S. flag. In the third EVA (which lasted 4 hours and 49 minutes on August 2), despite some difficulty with extracting a core sample, they had time to visit a few more sites and collect more samples (including their largest sample, the 21 lb (9.6 kg) "Great Scott" rock), and upon returning to the lander, Scott performed an experiment in front of a TV camera in which he dropped a hammer and a feather at the same time to demonstrate that all objects without air resistance will fall at the same rate. The lunar rover (which had traveled a total of 17.3 mi (27.9 km)) was parked away from the lander so the TV camera mounted on it could film the take-off of the LM's ascent stage, but before returning to the LM, Scott placed a Bible on the rover and also placed on the ground the "Fallen Astronaut" statuette with a plaque that listed the names of 14 astronauts and cosmonauts who had lost their lives in the pursuit of space exploration. With a total of 170 lbs (77 kg) of lunar samples collected, the LM ascent stage lifted off on August 2 after a total of 66 hours and 55 minutes on the lunar surface. After the astronauts returned to the CSM and the LM was jettisoned, they left lunar orbit on August 4, and on the way back to Earth, Worden did a 39 minute EVA to retrieve film cassettes stored on the outside of the spacecraft, the first ever spacewalk beyond low earth orbit (and to this day is still the most distant spacewalk ever done). The CM safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on August 7, despite one of the three parachutes failing to deploy.

Less than a year after the mission's conclusion, the reputations of the three astronauts were tarnished when it was revealed that, without any authorization from NASA, they had brought a few hundred postal covers (provided by a West German stamp dealer) with them to the lunar surface and back to Earth with the intent to make a small profit to set aside for their kids. As a result of this scandal, the three men were forced to give up the covers they had not sold to the stamp dealer and were not allowed to ever fly in space again.

[The Chronicler]

From April 16 to April 27 (last Saturday to next Wednesday) is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 16 mission, the fifth successful landing of a crewed spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. The astronauts who few on this mission were commander John Young (previously flew on Gemini 3, Gemini 10, and Apollo 10, and would later fly twice on the Space Shuttle Columbia, including the very first Space Shuttle mission), CM pilot Ken Mattingly (his first mission in space, originally scheduled for Apollo 13 but was pulled out due to potential illness exposure, would later fly on two Space shuttle missions, first on Columbia and later on Discovery), and LM pilot Charles Duke (his only mission in space). The names of the modules for this mission were Casper for the Command Module and Orion for the Lunar Module. The landing site in the Descartes Highlands was chosen because of the assumption that it consisted of volcanic rock, which turned out to not be the case. Also of note is that at age 36, Charles Duke was the youngest of the Apollo astronauts to have walked on the Moon.

The launch occurred shortly after noon on April 16 and, despite a few minor glitches along they way, successfully reached the trajectory that would take them to the Moon. Despite another glitch after the two modules had separated in lunar orbit that delayed the landing by six hours, the LM landed on April 20.

In the first EVA (which lasted 7 hours and 11 minutes on April 21) they unpacked the lunar rover, set up scientific equipment on the surface, drove the rover to two craters and collected samples (including "Big Muley", the largest single rock collected on any of the Apollo missions), and Young decided to do a "Grand Prix" with the rover while Duke filmed from a distance. In the second EVA (which lasted 7 hours and 23 minutes on April 22) they drove the lunar rover to a nearby mountain (reaching the highest elevation above the LM of any Apollo lunar landing mission) and collected samples from several craters around that mountain. In the third EVA (which lasted 5 hours and 40 minutes on April 23, two hours less than planned due to the delayed landing) they drove the rover to a large crater to the north where they collected samples from some massive boulders, then parked the rover (which had traveled at total of 16.6 mi (26.7 km)) near the lander so its TV camera could film the liftoff, and Duke placed a photo of his family on the lunar surface before he and Young returned to the LM. With a total of 211 lb (95.7 kg) of lunar samples, the LM ascent stage lifted off on April 23 after a total of 71 hours and 2 minutes on the lunar surface.

After the astronauts returned to the CSM and the LM was jettisoned, they left lunar orbit on April 24, and similarly to the previous mission, Mattingly did a spacewalk during the return trip to retrieve film tapes stored outside the spacecraft. The CM safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on April 27.

[The Chronicler]

From December 7 to December 19 (last Wednesday to the Monday after next week) is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 17 mission, the sixth and most recent successful landing of a crewed spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. The astronauts who flew on this mission were commander Eugene Cernan (his last mission in space, previously flew on Gemini 9 and Apollo 10), CM pilot Ronald Evans (his only mission in space), and LM pilot Harrison Schmitt (his only mission in space). The names of the modules for this mission were America for the Command Module and Challenger for the Lunar Module. Schmitt had originally been scheduled to fly on Apollo 18, but when that mission was canceled, he was moved to this mission so that his experience as a geologist could be used on a lunar landing.

The launch occurred shortly after midnight on December 7, after a delay of nearly three hours due to technical issues and the only launch of an Apollo spacecraft to have occurred at night. During the flight out to the Moon, the crew took some photographs of the Earth, including the now iconic "Blue Marble" picture. The LM landed on December 11 at a site called Taurus-Littrow.

The first EVA (which lasted 7 hours and 12 minutes) began just four hours after landing, starting with unpacking the lunar rover. While unpacking the rover, a fender over one of the wheels was damaged, so to prevent lunar dust from flying up at the astronauts while riding the rover, a temporary repair was made using a paper map and some duct tape. Due to some difficulty with deploying some other scientific equipment, plans to visit one crater were canceled and they moved on to a different crater of greater interest before returning to the LM. The second EVA (which lasted 7 hours and 37 minutes on December 12) began with making a better repair to the damaged fender, then they drove the rover to a site 4.7 mi (7.6 km) away, which is the furthest that any astronaut to date has traveled from their spacecraft. While later visiting a different site at another crater, they discovered orange soil which was later determined to be of volcanic origin. They then visited one more site to gather some more samples before returning to the LM. The third EVA (which lasted 7 hours and 13 minutes on December 13) visited three more sites, including a house-sized boulder named Tracy's Rock. As the moonwalk came to an end, Cernan took the last steps of the Apollo Program on the Moon as he spoke about his hopes that humanity would one day soon return to the Moon.

With a total of 254 lbs (115 kg) of lunar samples, the LM ascent stage lifted off on December 14 after a total of almost exactly 75 hours on the lunar surface. After the astronauts returned to the CSM and the LM was jettisoned, they left lunar orbit on December 16. On the return trip, Evens did a spacewalk to retrieve film tapes stored outside the spacecraft, making it the third and currently last spacewalk to have occurred in deep space. The CM safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on December 19.

[gutza1]

I want to say that I appreciate you spending the time to write all of this. As the team leader of a space race story, I've been doing a lot of research into Apollo myself. I may post something of my own related to spaceflight in the History section in the near future.