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Earth by Alan B. Shepard, Jr. of Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
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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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Liberty Bell 7
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Liberty Bell 7 |
| Explanation |
Today, the space capsule Liberty Bell 7 rests [ http://www.discovery.com/exp/libertybell7/libertybell7.html ] about 3 miles below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. But on July 21, 1961 [ http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/history/mercury/mr-4/mr-4.html ], astronaut Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Apollo204/zorn/grissom.htm ] rode this tiny craft 118 miles above the Earth to become the second American in space [ http://www.nasm.edu/GALLERIES/GAL114/SpaceRace/ ]. Grissom's flight was suborbital [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4201/ch11-8.htm ] - like fellow Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard's [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980724.html ] first flight - however his capsule was different, with a window, a new manual spacecraft control system, and an explosive hatch. Unfortunately, after Grissom brought Liberty Bell 7 to a successful splash down in the planned area, the hatch blew prematurely and rough seas began to flood the capsule. While Grissom was able to get out, the military recovery helicopter could not lift the waterlogged spacecraft. This dramatic picture [ http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/mirrors/images/images/pao/MR4/10073570.htm ] was taken from the helicopter shortly before Liberty Bell 7 was released and sank. |
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