Reviews Apollo mission reports, preliminary science reports, technical crew debriefings, lunar surface operations plans, and various relevant lunar experiment documents, collecting engineering- and operation-specific information by experiment. Organized by discrete experimental and equipment items emplaced or operated on the lunar surface or at zero gravity during the Apollo missions. Also attempts to summarize some of the general problems encountered on the surface and provides guidelines for the design of future lunar surface experiments with an eye toward operations.
The Catalog of Apollo Experiment Operations reviews Apollo mission reports, preliminary science reports, technical crew debriefings, lunar surface operations plans, and other relevant lunar experiment documents, and collects engineering- and operation-specific information by experiment. It is organized in two parts, by experiments performed (1) on the lunar surface or (2) under zero gravity. It also summarizes some of the general problems encountered on the lunar surface. For example, low gravity caused cables to stick up and get caught on boots and made it easy for instruments to fall over. Dust was also a problem that caused abrasion, visibility, and thermal control conditions. Moreover, operating in a pressure suit limits a person's activities, especially in the hands. A very important document for anyone interested in Apollo science. Originally published as NASA Reference Publication 1317 in January 1994.
DISCLAIMER: This is a REPRINT of NASA report RP-1317. Its author is Thomas A. Sullivan. It is printed from a pdf file available online for FREE. It is printed for those who do not like reading on a screen, and would prefer a printed and bound copy. The figures are low resolution (96 dpi). CONTENT: This catalog is a good comprehensive detailed description of Project Apollo experiments. Both surface and orbital experiments are covered. Each experiment is described by Purpose, Unloading from the LM, Site Selection, Deploying the Instrument, Operation of and Repairs to the Experiment, Navigating/Recognizing landmarks, Hazards, Special Tools, Success or Failure of the Experiment, Differences Between Training and Actual Use, and more. A nice book for history of Project Apollo, and planning for future experiments on the Moon. Many lessons learned: low gravity caused cables to stick up and get caught on boots and made it easy for instruments to fall over, and dust was also a problem that caused abrasion, visibility, and thermal control conditions. Moreover, operating in a pressure suit limits a person's activities, especially in the hands. A very important document for anyone interested in Project Apollo lunar science. There are many illustrations and pictures, but they are at low resolution. Please note: this is a REPRINT of a NASA pdf file that is available online for FREE.
This catalog reviews Apollo mission reports, preliminary science reports, technical crew debriefings, lunar surface operations plans, and various relevant lunar experiment documents, collecting engineering- and operation-specific information by experiment. It is organized by discrete experimental and equipment items emplaced or operated on the lunar surface or at zero gravity during the Apollo missions. It also attempts to summarize some of the general problems encountered on the surface and provides guidelines for the design of future lunar surface experiments with an eye toward operations. Many of the problems dealt with on the lunar surface originated from just a few novel conditions that manifested themselves in various nasty ways. Low gravity caused cables to stick up and get caught on feet, and also made it easy for instruments to tip over. Dust was a problem and caused abrasion, visibility, and thermal control difficulties. Operating in a pressure suit limited a person's activity, especially in the hands. I hope to capture with this document some of the lessons learned from the Apollo era to make the jobs of future astronauts, principle investigators, engineers, and operators of lunar experiments more productive. Sullivan, Thomas A. Johnson Space Center APOLLO LUNAR EXPERIMENT MODULE; APOLLO LUNAR SURFACE EXPERIMENTS PACKAGE; CATALOGS (PUBLICATIONS); LUNAR ROVING VEHICLES; LUNAR SURFACE; APOLLO FLIGHTS; LUNAR DUST; LUNAR PHOTOGRAPHS; LUNAR SEISMOGRAPHS; LUNAR SOIL; MANNED LUNAR SURFACE VEHICLES; MICROGRAVITY; SPACECREWS...
A former NASA scientist shares a behind-the-scenes history of the Apollo space program and the fight to include science activities in the missions. In 1961, President Kennedy set a goal of putting a man on the moon in order to assert American dominance in the escalating Cold War. The mission’s sole purpose was to beat the Soviets to the punch. So how did science get aboard the Apollo rockets? And what did scientists do with the space allotted to them? Donald A. Beattie served at NASA from 1963 to 1973 in several management positions, including as program manager of Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments. In Taking Science to the Moon, Beattie takes readers inside NASA headquarters and the struggle to include science payloads and lunar exploration as part of the Apollo program.
The Apollo Lunar Surface Operational Requirements document delineates the operating concepts and the real-time support requirements for the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) program and the Early Apollo Scientific Experiments Package (EASEP) program.
The evolution of the thermal design of the Apollo lunar surface experiments package central station from the basic concept to the final flight hardware is discussed, including results of development, prototype, and qualification tests that were used to verify that the flight hardware would operate adequately on the lunar surface. In addition, brief discussions of the thermal design of experiments included in the experiments package are presented. The flight thermal performance is compared with analytical results and thermal-vacuum test results, and design modifications for future lunar surface experiment packages are presented.
Four comprehensive official NASA documents chronicle the historic mission of Apollo 11, which accomplished the first landing of humans on the moon in July 1969. Two technical mission reports, the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) Apollo 11 Mission Report and the NASA Headquarters Mission Operation Report (MOR), provide complete details about every aspect of the mission. Apollo 11 MSC Mission Report: Mission description, pilots' report, lunar decent and ascent, communications, trajectory, command and service module performance, lunar module performance, extravehicular mobility unit performance, the lunar surface, biomedical evaluation, mission support performance, assessment of mission objectives, launch vehicle summary, anomaly summary (CSM, LM, government furnished equipment), conclusions, vehicle descriptions, spacecraft histories, postflight testing, data availability, glossary. Apollo 11 MOR: Mission design and execution, spacecraft performance, flight anomalies, detailed objectives and experiments, launch countdown for the Apollo-Saturn AS-506 launch vehicle, detailed flight mission description, back contamination program, contingency operations, configuration differences, mission support, recovery support plan, flight crew, mission management responsibility, program management, abbreviations and acronyms Apollo 11 Press Kit: Countdown, Launch events, mission events, mission trajectory and maneuver description, earth parking orbit (EPO), trans-lunar injection (TLI), translunar coast, lunar orbit insertion, lunar module descent, lunar landing, EVA, lunar sample collection, LM ascent, lunar orbit rendezvous, transearth injection (TEI), transearth coast, entry and landing, recovery operations, quarantine, Lunar Receiving Laboratory, go/no-go decision points, alternate missions, abort modes, deep space aborts, onboard television, photographic tasks, lunar description, lunar landing sites, CSM systems, lunar module structures, Saturn V launch vehicle, Apollo 11 crew, Early Apollo Scientific Experiments Package, ALRH, launch operations, Launch Complex 39, Manned Space Flight Network, ARIA, tracking ships, contamination control program, Apollo program management, Principal Investigators and Sample Investigations, Glossary, acronyms and abbreviations. NASA Mission Report (PAO Release) - At 10:56 P.M. EDT, Sunday, July 20. Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, spacecraft commander of Apollo 11, set foot on the moon. His descent from the lowest rung of the ladder which was attached to a leg of the lower stage of the Lunar Module (LM), to the footpad, and then to the surface of earth's only natural satellite constituted the climax of a national effort that began in 1961. It was an effort that involved, at its peak, more than 300,000 people in industry, the universities and in government. As he took his epochal step, Armstrong commented "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for Mankind." Sharing this electric moment with Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, the LM pilot, were an estimated half-billion TV watchers in most of the earth's nations. As the astronaut descended the ladder, he pulled a "D" ring that deployed a black and white television camera which was focused to record the event. Framed by parts of the LM's under-carriage, Armstrong's heavily-booted left foot descended across millions of TV tubes until his boot sole made contact.
