Apollo and America's Moon Landing Program: On The Moon With Apollo 17 - A Guidebook to Taurus-Littrow (English Edition) [Kindle-editie] beoordelingen het boek quotes

This is the third in a series of three pre-flight guidebooks to Apollo lunar landing missions written for the public. (Similar books were made for Apollo 15 and Apollo 16.) Published by NASA just prior to the launch of Apollo 17, it contains extensive information on the planned rover traverses and science experiments conducted by astronauts Cernan, Schmitt, and Evans in 1972. Author Gene Simmons, the chief scientist at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, wrote the following about the book, and captures some of the anticipatory excitement in the days before the historic mission:"The 11 manned Apollo missions were each major steps in man's conquest of space. Apollo 17—scheduled for launch on December 6—marks the end of a series of scientific explorations in which man first walked on the Moon in his effort to learn more about the Universe in which he lives. Throughout history, major scientific discoveries have been the result of work by one person—or a small group of people—and only later were shared with the general public. The newly discovered information was traditionally communicated by scientists in the form of technical papers or addresses made before scientific groups. The Apollo missions drastically changed parts of this process. Millions of people throughout the world "participated" in some of the greatest scientific discoveries of our age. The speed and comprehensive reporting provided by modern communications—through television, radio, and print—gave people everywhere in the world "instant" knowledge concerning the experiences of our astronauts on the Moon. Science and scientists have been exposed to the public eye throughout the progress of the lunar experiments in a way never before seen. We have had an ever growing responsibility to explain more about our science. This booklet is intended to meet a part of that responsibility. In the preface to On the Moon with Apollo 15, I wrote: Never before in man's history has it been possible for more than a few people to witness major scientific discoveries. Yet with each Apollo mission to the Moon's surface, millions of people throughout the world can watch through television the activities of the astronauts. The understanding by the viewer of those activities and his sense of sharing in the scientific excitement of the mission are greatly increased when there is a general understanding of the scientific and engineering aspects. Yet for most of us, the usual discussions are clouded with jargon. My purpose in writing this new guidebook is to give in simple terms information about the Apollo 17 mission to the Moon so that others can share with me the excitement of the scientific exploration of the Taurus-Littrow area of the Moon."Contents: LANDING SITE DESCRIPTION * Description of Rock Units * Surface Features * LUNAR ROVING VEHICLE * SURFACE SCIENCE ACTIVITIES * Traverse Descriptions * Lunar Surface Scientific Experiments and Hardware * Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) * Heat Flow Experiment (HFE) * Lunar Surface Gravimeter (LSG) * Lunar Atmospheric Composition Experiment (LACE) * Lunar Ejecta and Meteorites Experiment (LEAM) * Lunar Seismic Profiling Experiment (LSP) * Lunar Geology Experiment (LGE) * Soil Mechanics Experiment (SME) * Surface Electrical Properties Experiment (SEP) * Lunar Traverse Gravimeter Experiment (LTG) * Lunar Neutron Probe Experiment (LNP) * Cosmic Ray Detector Experiment (CRD) * INTRODUCTION TO ORBITAL SCIENCE * ORBITAL SCIENCE ACTIVITIES * Lunar Orbital Scientific Experiments and Hardware * Photographic Tasks and Equipment (PTE) * The Laser Altimeter (LA) * Apollo Lunar Sounder Experiment (ALSE) * Infrared Scanning Radiometer (ISR) * Far Ultraviolet Spectrometer (FUS) * S-Band Transponder (SBT) * Window Meteoroid Experiment (WME) * THE CREW * WHAT WE'VE LEARNED ABOUT THE MOON * Introduction * What the Rocks Tell Us * What the Lunar Surface Experiments Tell Us * What the Orbital Experiments Tell Us * BIBLIOGRAPHY