Dec 12 1969
From The Space Library
Space News for this day. (1MB PDF)
NASA's HL-10 lifting-body vehicle, piloted by NASA test pilot William H. Dana, reached 80,000-ft altitude and mach 1.4 after air-launch from B-52 aircraft at 45,000-ft altitude west of Rosamond, Calif. Objective of powered flight, 31st in series, was to obtain stability and control data. (NASA Proj Off)
Apollo 12 Astronauts Charles P. Conrad, Jr." Richard F. Gordon, Jr., and Alan L. Bean held press conference at MSC and showed movies and slides of mission. Explaining failure of color TV camera, Conrad said: "What apparently happened . . . is that I took the thing off MESA and set it down. The MESA was in the sun at the time and . . . I apparently either pointed it at the sun or pointed it at the MESA, which was in the sun and a pretty bright reflector . . . and just that few seconds . . . was enough to sunburn the camera. . . I didn't realize it was as sensitive to light as it is." Dust on surface was a major problem, Conrad said. Ground was soft and astronauts sank in significantly. It was difficult to keep experiment package clean. "It was almost impossible for us to walk around those packages without our little dust cloud and at any time the dust hit the surface of the package it stuck and the worst thing you could do was try to rub it off because you just smeared it over them even worse. . . ." To question about difficulty in landing LM on moon, Conrad replied he had misinterpreted correct gage reading and underestimated accuracy of LM's descent. ". . . I felt that that gage was not . . . giving me the proper information. I found it quite hard to believe that I could have gotten the velocity killed quite as well as I did . . . and so I was continually going out the window to get roll information and a general idea of my lateral and horizontal velocities." Although Conrad felt landing on moon was not "an amateur's game," he felt satisfactory landings under completely instrumented flight rule conditions could be made. Crew had suggested adding instrument that would provide automatic nulling of horizontal and lateral velocities but would leave pilot with rate of descent command. Conrad said he did not think dust during descent would be problem on future missions "as long as you get a look at your landing site before you get into the dust, and ascertain that it's all right-it's perfectly all right to go in and land, IFR . . . don't recommend any change from the procedures that we're using right now." Bean said photos of moon were realistic, but photos of earth were not. "As we view the Moon from the Earth, it's white and flat; it's quite pretty. When you get up at the Moon . . . it's much the same; it's either white or concrete colored or grey. . . But when you look at the Earth . . . it kind of sparkles, and . . . you can't capture it on the film. It's sort of like taking a picture of an emerald . . . and hoping to get it." Gordon said he had mixture of emotions, "a mixture of thoughts, as to why is it all here? And ... what the function that each person, each part, each molecule, each body performs, in the overall scheme of why is it, what is it, and from where did it come." (Transcript)
Right click on the image to see a video clip from the Apollo 12 press conference.
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Lunar Receiving Laboratory scientists told press at MSC rocks retrieved from moon by Apollo 12 crew were younger, lower in titanium, and higher in nickel than those retrieved by Apollo 11 and showed no signs of bacteria or toxicity. Dr. Oliver A. Schaeffer of New York State Univ. at Stony Brook said Apollo 12 samples seemed to be 2.2 billion to 2.5 billion yrs old, compared to 3.8 billion to 4.6 billion yrs old for Apollo 11 samples. "The younger age means the ... activity, whether volcanic or meteorite impact, took place over an extended period of time, not on a short time scale." Dr. S. Ross Taylor of Australian National Univ. said chemistry of Apollo 12 and Apollo 11 samples was basically similar but had many interesting differences. "The surface is not completely homogeneous across the moon. There are differences in chemistry probably reflecting in the underlying rock. . . . it looks as though we could have two extremes of differences." Apollo 12 samples from Ocean of Storms had about half titanium content found in Apollo 11 samples from Sea of Tranquility. They had few refractory elements and fewer volatile elements. (Wilford, NYT, 12/13/69, 20; Cohn, W Post, 12/13/69, A10)
Senate confirmed nomination of former Apollo 11 Astronaut Michael Collins to be Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs. (CR, 12/12/69, D1201)
Moon was gray and colorless, rather than orange from oxidation of ferrous oxide in rocks by photolytic liberated oxygen, UCLA geophysicist Dr. Willard F. Libby noted in Science. He suggested reason "lies in the solar wind's bringing in atomic hydrogen to replace that lost by the photolytic decomposition of water vapor." (Science, 12/12/69, 1437-8)
Results of four radio occultation measurements of Mars, atmosphere, ionosphere, and surface configuration by Mariner VI and VII were reported in Science by JPL's Dr. Arvydas J. Kliore, Dr. Gunnar Fjeldbo, and Boris L. Seidel and Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Dr. S. Ichtiaque Rasool. Measurements had provided refractivity data in Mars atmosphere at four points above its surface. For atmosphere consisting predominantly of carbon dioxide, surface pressures between 6 and 7 millibars at three points of measurement and 3.8 at fourth, indicated elevation of 3.1-3.7 mi (5-6 km). Temperature profile measured by Mariner VI near equator in daytime indicated temperatures in stratosphere about 100°K warmer than those predicted by theory. Measurements by Mariner VI taken at 79°N at beginning of polar night indicated conditions were favorable for condensation of carbon dioxide at almost all altitudes. Mariner VII measurements taken at 58°S in daytime and 38°N at night also showed carbon dioxide condensation was possible at altitudes above about 15.5 mi (25 km). Measurements of electron density in ionosphere showed upper atmosphere was substantially warmer than in 1965, possibly because of increased solar activity and proximity to sun. (Science, 12/12/69, 1393-7)
TOR-SHOK energy-absorbing system designed for Apollo Program was being installed by State Highway Commission of Kansas along major arteries in and about Topeka, Republic Steel Corp. announced. Developed by Ara, Inc." system used multiple-telescoping, lightweight, high-strength steel tubing to attach guardrail to its mounting posts, concrete abutments, or other roadside objects. When car struck guardrail, most of impact force was transmitted from rail to TOR-SHOKs, rings that absorbed shock by turning inside out. (Republic Steel Release R-1053)
NASA was allowing Apollo 12 crew and colleagues to take part in Jewish National Fund dinner Dec. 14 in Houston "after years of guarding against the use of its astronauts as fund-raisers," Associated Press said. Proceeds of $100-a-plate affair honoring Apollo 12 and other astronauts would be used to plant trees in Israel. (AP, W Post, 12/13/69, Al2)
DOD announced General Electric Co. would receive $5,333,250 supplemental agreement to previously awarded USAF contract for R&D of Mark 12 reentry vehicle. Contract would be managed by Space and Missile Systems Organization (SAMSO). (DOD Release 1068-69)
“Apollo 12 On The Moon” article in Life Magazine
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