The Mammoth Book of Space Exploration and Disasters

Within seconds the caution lights went out and there was good data being displayed. Shepard and Mitchell went on to execute the most accurate landing of the Apollo Moon Landings, putting Antares down only 53 metres northeast of the planned landing spot at 3:18 am on 5 February. Shepard is reputed to have dropped it short on purpose as it was in the direction they were to walk first, and it would save them some walking, but he wrote, “The landing site was rougher on direct observation than the photos had been able to show. So I looked for a smoother area, found one, and landed there.

“Ed and I worked on the surface for 4 hours and 50 minutes during our first EVA; after the return to Antares, a long rest period, and then re-suiting, we began the second EVA. This time we had the MET – Modularised Equipment Transporter, although we called it the lunar rickshaw – to carry tools, cameras, and samples so we could work more effectively and bring back a larger quantity of samples. We covered a distance of about two miles and collected many samples during 4 and a half hours on the surface in the second EVA. I also threw a makeshift javelin and hit a couple of golf shots.”

The second EVA had considerable problems. The terrain was littered with rocks and navigating was difficult. They experienced optical illusions among the boulders and gullies. They slipped climbing up slopes of rubble. They found it was easier to carry the MET up the slopes.

Shepard complained, “You take one step up and you slip back half a step.” They were trying to collect rocks from the rim of the crater but they never found the crater. Houston told them to turn back. Mitchell expressed his feelings: “I think you’re finks.” The return trip was much easier as their suit temperatures dropped back to normal and they took a look at Weird Crater before chipping samples off some large white boulders. Back at base they completed the rest of the experiments and tasks before getting ready to depart.

Before he climbed back into the Lunar Module, Shepard pulled out a six iron tip from a pocket and fitted it to the end of the aluminium handle of his rock collector. Then he dropped a golf ball onto the lunar soil and announced, “I’m trying a sand trap shot.” Thick lunar dust flew as the ball dropped into a nearby crater. “I got more dirt than ball,” he muttered. He had a second ball ready and 0steadied himself before slamming it to what appeared to be nearly 100 metres. The “golf club” was made in the Manned Spacecraft Center’s Technical Services Division and bootlegged through the workshops to avoid detection by management. Antares left the lunar surface at 12:48 pm on 6 February.

Apollo 15: a scientific and technical peak

The last three Apollo missions (18, 19 & 20) were cancelled. The crew of the next Apollo mission were Dave Scott, Alfred Worden and James Irwin. Lindsay:

Originally planned as the last of the simpler “H” missions, with only two excursions and no vehicular rover, the cancellation of the last three Apollo lunar landings made NASA anxious to make the most of the remaining missions, so the more comprehensive scientific “J” missions were brought forward to Apollo 15. The Apollo 13 mishap introduced a convenient delay in the program to help incorporate the hardware changes, as the “J” missions were designed to use the Apollo system capabilities to the limit, and to change the role of the astronauts from test pilots to explorers, preferably scientific explorers.

The lunar module was fitted with larger fuel tanks, extra batteries, and a bigger descent engine thrust and bell housing to carry the extra weight of the lunar rover and its gear. The trajectory engineers revised their procedures to accommodate the steeper descent path over the Apennine Mountains.

At the NASA station in Honeysuckle Creek, Australia, Operations Supervisor John Saxon remembered: