1972 NASA AUTHORIZATION THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 1971 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND ASTRONAUTICS, Washington, D.C. PREPARED STATEMENT OF DALE D. MYERS, ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR MANNED SPACE FLIGHT, NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION APOLLO LUNAR EXPLORATION Great progress has been made in the exploration of the moon. The Manned Apollo missions and the automated flights of the Soviet Union and the United States have contributed to the rapid advance of human knowledge of this natural satellite of the earth. The moon has a diameter of more than one-fourth that of the earth, and a surface area larger than North and South America combined. Thus the moon is a small planet or a part of a double planet system. To draw general conclusions about a planet from a few brief visits and a very limited selection of samples is a truly challenging task. Nevertheless, major increases in the understanding of the moon have resulted from the past year of intense study of the information made available from the lunar samples returned on the Apollo 11 and 12 missions and the Soviet Luna 16 flight, and the automated geophysical station emplaced by the Apollo 12 crew, MA 71-5269. COMPARATIVE TABLE, MOON & EARTH More than 200 teams of scientists from universities and private organizations in 26 states within the United States and 17 other countries are at work analyzing this information. In addition, agreement was reached in Moscow in January of this year that three grams of samples from the Apollo 11 and 12 missions would be exchanged for three grams from the Soviet Lunar 16 sample for further analysis. As a result of these efforts, major progress is being made toward unraveling the complex history and origin of the moon as well as the interrelationship of the complex system comprising the sun, the earth, and the moon. During the past year, certain facts about the moon have become clear: The moon is a very quiet celestial body in comparison with the earth; moonquakes are rare occurrences. Seismic data indicates the lunar interior differs considerably from that of the earth. There is a weak but surprising magnetic field in the locality of the Apollo 12 landing site. Similar evidence has just been discovered at the Apollo 14 site. No evidence of water or past or present life has been found on the moon thus far. Rocks and soil have been returned with ages ranging from 3.3 to 4.6 billion years. The age of the earth and meteorites are generally accepted as 4.6 billion years. Preliminary analysis of magnetic data indicates that the deep interior of the moon has a temperature of about 1000° centigrade, compared with more than 3000° believed to exist in the center of the earth. The lunar samples have revealed strong evidence that the moon had an early volcanic history, while other data indicates volcanic history as recent as a billion years ago. Magnetism remaining in the lunar rocks indicates that the ancient magnetic field must have been stronger than at present. There is evidence that the moon's surface is being modified very slowly as the result of impacts by meteorites and by erosion resulting from the effects of the steady stream of atomic particles from the sun-known as solar wind. We know that the crust of the moon has considerable strength because it is able to support immense mass concentrations at or near the surface in several of the Lunar "Seas" such as Imbrium. These mass concentrations were discovered by the analysis of Lunar Orbiter and tracking data. The gravity anomalies associated with these concentrations have not been detected over the lunar highlands and mountain masses. A related fact is that the material found at the landing sites is too dense to be representative of the entire moon. One may conclude that the highlands will be found to have much lower density. The laser reflector experiment has allowed scientists to determine the earthmoon distance to a precision of less than 12 inches. This experiment may hold the key to the understanding of the Chandler wobble of the earth's axis. Changes in the wobble are believed to be correlated with major earthquakes. Knowledge of and the ability to predict earthquakes, may mitigate the effects of great catastrophic events, such as the Los Angeles disaster last month. Of great engineering and science interest was the examination of portions of the Surveyor III camera which was returned. Studies have shown that state of the art structural materials, electrical, and electronic components of the 1960's withstood the rigors of space environment for 31 months. The excellent general condition of the equipment indicates that no unexpected difficulties would be encountered in the operation of permanent lunar installations in the future. From nuclear track studies of portions of a Surveyor filter, it was found that the sun preferentially emits far more iron nuclei than expected and presumably some sort of newly discovered ionic selection process is at work in the solar atmosphere. This may cause us to revise theories of the origin of galactic cosmic rays. The number of theories about the orgin and evolution of the moon have been reduced; however, many questions remain and new questions have arisen. By combining the new information with what was known earlier from studies by telescope, and investigations by automated spacecraft during the past decade, scientists are developing a far better understanding of the probable early history of the moon. As is normal in science, considerable controversy surrounds these theories and it is not possible to predict at this time which theory or combination of theories will prove correct. It is becoming clear that the early history of the moon was quite involved. As our studies intensify, it has become very apparent that an important link in our program is the astronaut. They have dramatically demonstrated that men can operate as efficient scientific explorers in the alien environment of the moon. As a general apparatus for sensing, evaluation and investigation, a human being is invaluable especially if unexpected situations occur. While our instruments are incredibly precise, their emplacement requires the utmost care and orientation for maximum efficiency. Much of the scientific success of our Apollo missions is directly attributable to the resourcefulness and intelligence of the astronauts. An example is the extraction of the jammed nuclear core for the surface package on Apollo 12. If the astronauts had not been successful in correcting this problem, the geophysical station could never have functioned. PROGRAM STATUS The successful completion of the Apollo 14 mission has enhanced the scientific returns from lunar exploration, provided additional operational experience and demonstrated the maturity of the Apollo Program. This nation has now flown 18 men to lunar distance, and has accumulated approximately 300 hours of flight experience in lunar orbit. Six men have spent a total of 88 man hours on the lunar surface and 37 man hours outside of the Lunar Module in active exploration of the landing sites. They have emplaced a network of 14 long-lived scientific instruments on the lunar surface and have returned 219 pounds of lunar samples for detailed analysis. The manufacture, assembly and factory test of most Apollo hardware will be completed in CY 1971. The improvements resulting from the Apollo 13 Mission were incorporated in the flight hardware for the Apollo 14 Mission. Modifications are being completed for the Command Service Modules for Apollo 15 and subsequent missions to increase their performance. Modifications to the Lunar Modules are also being completed for the Apollo 15 mission and subsequent, to provide increased capability and habitability. Production of Saturn V launch vehicles has been completed and phasedown planning will provide for a tool stowage retention with disposal of equipment that is excess to a two per year requirement. Every effort consistent with resources available, will be made to delineate and record the manufacturing techniques, test and checkout procedures and associated data so that production can be resumed at minimum cost. In September 1970 we reluctantly reduced the remaining number of lunar missions from six to four. Through deletion of two flights, funding which would have been required could be applied to future programs. This decision gave us some additional flexibility, providing Apollo hardware for possible use in future programs where manned operations or a large boost capability is required. Our budget estimates for Apollo are continuing to decline. The total has declined about 65% in three years, from 2.025 billion in Fiscal Year 1969 to 612 million in Fiscal Year 1972. The FY 1972 Budget Program supports the remaining Apollo Luna Landing missions. These flights, which are designated Apollo missions 15, 16, and 17, are scheduled for July 1971, March 1972, and December 1972, respectively. The delay of the Apollo 17 Mission by approximately five months will ensure that scientific experiments that were originally being developed to be flown on the now cancelled Apollo 18 and 19 missions, will be fully prepared and available for this flight. This delay also minimized the FY 1972 funding requirements. It is planned to complete the Apollo Program before Skylab operations commence in 1973. The last three missions, designated "J" missions, have significant increases in capabilities. Design changes in the spacecraft and supporting hardware will allow the astronauts to remain on the lunar surface for up to 66 hours, and the landed scientific payload to be doubled to approximately 1,200 pounds. Increased range and efficiency of surface operations will be obtained through improved suit mobility, an improved life support system and a lunar roving vehicle. Also the Command Service Module changes will permit up to 16 days total flight time for lunar missions and major increases in orbital scientific activities. The evolying technology of lunar exporation reaches a peak during the last three missions the most sophisticated and comprehensive of the entire series. Twenty-two new surface and orbital experiments have been selected to fly in the Apollo 15 through 17 missions. Most of the orbital experiments will be contained in the Service Module, MA 71-5095. High resolution panoramic photography, metric photography and laser altimetry will contribute to study of the lunar size, shape, surface topography and the interrelationship between the gravitational field and lunar surface features. A variety of sensors will remotely examine the geochemical and physical properties of large areas of the lunar surface. Apollo's 15 and 17 will deliver small subsatellites to lunar orbit to monitor the variation of magnetic fields and interplanetary charged particle streams in the vicinity of the moon. The data will define electrical properties and internal physical characteristics of the moon. The subsatellities will be equipped with transponders which will allow for refinement and extension of mass anomaly data. They will function in lunar orbit for many months after the manned portion of the mission is completed. One of the more intriguing new surface experiments to be carried on Apollo 17 is the tidal gravimeter. This instrument is designed to measure tidal movements on the lunar surface. It also has the capability of detecting gravitational waves originally predicted by Einstein. There is so much interference from man-made and natural sources on earth that their existence is uncertain. On the moon without such interferences the sensitivity can be increased a thousand-fold. Proof of the existence of gravitational waves would represent one of the most important fundamental discoveries of modern times with far reaching results implications. Greatly increased surface mobility will be provided to the astronauts by the lunar roving vehicle, MA70-7386. This vehicle will have a total range of 55 miles and will carry both astronauts plus approximately 250 pounds of scientific instruments and lunar material. APOLLO 13 The third scheduled lunar landing mission was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970. Its major objective was to explore the Fra Mauro formation. Launch, earth orbital insertion, and translunar trajectory insertion all were satisfactory. Separation of the Command and Service Modules, docking with the Lunar Module, and extraction of the Lunar Module from the third propulsion stage (S-IVB), were also performed without difficulty. The S-IVB stage was then placed on a trajectory to impact the lunar surface near a seismometer left by the Apollo 12 crew nearly five months earlier. The recorded seismic impulse is contributing to an improved understanding of the subsurface lunar composition. |