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Images by Alan B. Shepard, Jr. and Edgar Mitchell of Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
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Apollo 14 on the Moon
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Apollo 14 on the Moon |
| Explanation |
The jewel-like glare from a brilliant sun reflects off the lunar module of the Apollo 14 [ http://www.c3.lanl.gov/~cjhamil/SolarSystem/apo14.htm ] mission to the Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950903.html ] as it rests on the lunar surface in February 1971. Astronauts Alan Shepard [ http://tigger.uic.edu/~jph/abs.htm ] and Edgar Mitchell walked on the Moon's surface [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950922.html ] while astronaut Stuart Roosa piloted the orbiting command module. Coming only months after the abortive Apollo 13 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950707.html ] mission, Apollo 14 [ http://ees5-www.lanl.gov/APOLLO/ ] was famous for long exploratory moon walks, collecting samples of lunar bedrock from Cone Crater, deploying the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package, and hitting golf balls [ http://ees5-www.lanl.gov/APOLLO/a14.clsout2.html ]. The slope rising to the rim of Cone Crater is visible at the left edge of the photo. |
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Apollo 14 Deploys ALSEP
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Apollo 14 Deploys ALSEP |
| Explanation |
After the lunar module [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951209.html ] of Apollo 14 [ http://bang.lanl.gov/solarsys/apo14.htm ] set down on the Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951128.html ], Astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell deployed the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) and collected samples of lunar material. The ALSEP scientific experiments included a seismometer [ http://gldfs.cr.usgs.gov/ ] sensitive to slight lunar surface movements, and charged particle detectors which measured the solar wind [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/glossary.html#sol_wind ]. The seismometer successfully measured surface tremors interpreted as moonquakes [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950904.html ] and meteoroids [ http://ccf.arc.nasa.gov/sst/ ] striking the Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950903.html ], while the solar wind [ http://www.sel.bldrdoc.gov/effects.html ] experiment was sensitive enough to detect the element argon [ http://www.cchem.berkeley.edu/Table/Ar.html ]. These and other ALSEP experiments helped classify the internal structure and magnetic field of Earth's Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950629.html ]. Shepard and Mitchell also made a geology traverse to the rim of Cone Crater, carrying their tools and sample containers in the Modular Equipment Transporter (MET). In this picture Alan Shepard assembles a core tube which he will then hammer into the surface. |
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Apollo 14: Rickshaw Tracks A
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Apollo 14: Rickshaw Tracks Across the Moon |
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Brilliant sunlight glints off tracks gently winding across the the Moon's Frau Maro highlands [ http://ees5-www.lanl.gov/APOLLO/a14.summary.html ]. The tracks were made by the Apollo 14 crew's [ http://ees5-www.lanl.gov/APOLLO/a14.crew.html ] two-wheeled Modularized Equipment Transporter (MET), fondly known as the "rickshaw". The MET was designed as an aid to surface exploration. Serving as a workbench with a place for the lunar handtools, it also carried cameras, sample containers, spare film and a Lunar Surface Penetrometer. The path outlined in the lunar soil [ http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/images/pao/AS14/10075616.htm ] leads away from Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell's Lunar landing Module, tracing the path of their first venture across the lunar landscape [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960420.html ]. |
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