Taking Science to the Moon: Lunar Experiments and the Apollo Program

353 Pages·2001·10.54 MB·English

by  Donald A. Beattie

Taking Science to the Moon
New Series in NASA History
Roger D. Launius, Series Editor
Before Lift-o√: The Making of a Space Shuttle Crew
by Henry S. F. Cooper, Jr.
The Space Station Decision:
Incremental Politics and Technological Choice
by Howard E. McCurdy
Exploring the Sun: Solar Science since Galileo
by Karl Hufbauer
Inside NASA: High Technology and Organizational Change
in the U.S. Space Program
by Howard E. McCurdy
Powering Apollo: James E. Webb of NASA
by W. Henry Lambright
NASA and the Space Industry
by Joan Lisa Bromberg
Taking Science to the Moon: Lunar Experiments
and the Apollo Program
by Donald A. Beattie
Taking
Science
to the
Moon
Lunar Experiments and the Apollo Program
Donald A. Beattie
The Johns Hopkins University Press
Baltimore and London
∫ 2001 The Johns Hopkins University Press
All rights reserved. Published 2001
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 North Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363
www.press.jhu.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Beattie, Donald A.
Taking science to the moon: lunar experiments and the Apollo Program
/ Donald A. Beattie.
p. cm. — (New series in NASA history)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8018-6599-9
1. Project Apollo (U.S.) 2. Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package.
3. Moon—Exploration—Instruments. I. Title. II. Series.
TL789.8.U6 A5186 2001
629.45%4%0973—dc21 00-010272
A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Frontispiece: Night launch of the final Apollo mission (Apollo 17)
as viewed from Kennedy Space Center, December 7, 1972. (NASA S72-55070)
Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments ix
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms xi
Introduction xiii
1 From the Jungle to Washington ∞
2 Early Theories and Questions about the Moon ∞≤
3 What Do We Do after Apollo? ≤∫
4 The United States Geological Survey Joins Our Team ∑∫
5 Science Payloads for Apollo: The Struggle Begins π∫
6 Developing the Geological Equipment, Related
Experiments, and Sampling Protocols ∞≠π
7 The Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package
and Associated Experiments ∞≤∑
8 Walk, Fly, or Drive? ∞∂∏
9 Astronaut Training and Mission Simulation ∞∑Ω
10 Studying the Moon from Orbit ∞∫Ω
Contents
11 On to the Moon: Science Becomes the Focus ∞Ω∂
12 The J Missions: We Almost Achieve Our Early Dreams ≤≤π
13 The Legacy of Apollo ≤∑∞
Notes ≤π∑
Selected Bibliography ≤∫Ω
Index ≤Ω∞
vi
Preface
The technical achievements that permitted the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA), other government agencies, and their contractors to
fulfill President John F. Kennedy’s promise of ‘‘landing a man on the moon and
returning him safely’’ have often been described. Most previous authors have
included anecdotes that enhance our appreciation of how Project Apollo was
successfully accomplished, although many are retold at second or third hand.
Several movies such as The Right Stu√ and Apollo 13 showed both true and
fictional accounts of the spirit and engineering skills that characterized the
entire project, focusing primarily on the major or well-known participants.
A story that has not been completely told, however, is how a small band of
somewhat anonymous NASA sta√ers, allied with scientists inside and outside
government, struggled to persuade the management of NASA to look beyond
the initial Apollo landing and reap a scientific harvest from this historic under-
taking. Here is that story as seen through the eyes of a participant based at
NASA headquarters—a pack rat who kept many of the internal memos, reports,
photos, and notes that document that ten-year struggle. It highlights the contri-
butions of many of those who worked with me during the Apollo program.
Some of them have received little public recognition for their e√orts. I hope
that this insider background will give readers a better understanding of the
behind-the-scenes maneuvering that led to many of Project Apollo’s scientific
achievements, which have enriched our understanding not only of the Moon
but, more important, of the small planet we call Earth.
vii

Acknowledgments
Many people and organizations helped and encouraged me while I was writing
this book, and they deserve credit. Although I had saved many boxes of material
I collected during my Apollo days at NASA in anticipation of one day writing
this story, I soon found this source material was insu≈cient. Calling old col-
leagues to ask if they had kept records was not very fruitful at first, but even-
tually I was successful.
The first person who agreed to share his records covering part of this period
was Robert Fudali, who was on the Bellcomm sta√ during Apollo’s early days.
His material not only contributed to the accuracy of this story but served as a
valuable reminder of some of the events that occurred during the formative
years of Apollo science. I have quoted liberally from a few of Bob’s colorful
internal memos.
Gordon Swann, a friend, former colleague, and principal investigator who
took part in the struggle to develop science payloads for Apollo, especially those
aspects related to the astronauts’ geological investigations, reviewed early drafts
and provided many important comments and suggestions as well as a few of his
famous anecdotes—some printable, some not. Gordon should be encouraged
to one day write his account of Apollo.
Paul Lowman, who figures prominently in this story, was an invaluable
source of material and a resource for clarifying many events. Paul is renowned
among his NASA colleagues as a pack rat of the first degree: his o≈ce is so filled
with reports and trivia that when you first enter it is hard to find his desk.
However, his propensity for maintaining his archives has benefited many who
have written about NASA’s early days. He also reviewed the manuscript and
o√ered many useful comments.
ix