Caidin, Martin, 403 Carpenter, James, 20 Carpenter, Malcolm Scott, 71
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Contents Illustrations .................................................... xi Tables ..................................................... ixx Foreword ..................................................... xxi Author's preface............................................... xxiii Acknowledgements ...............................................xv Acronyms .................................................... xvii 1. Astronomers' Moon............................................1 Classical philosophers..........................................1 The Renaissance in astronomy ...................................3 Early telescopic impressions of the Moon ...........................4 Mappingthe Moon ...........................................8 The surface material ..........................................15 2. Geologists' Moon ............................................19 Early ideas about lunar craters ..................................19 A different point of view ......................................20 Stratigraphic mapping ........................................28 Whence the Moon?...........................................30 3. The space age dawns ..........................................33 Missiles and space ...........................................33 Satellite shock ..............................................34 America tries for the Moon ....................................39 Soviet lunar flyby ............................................49 NASA embraces lunar science ..................................49 More Soviet successes.........................................53 4. Preparing Ranger ............................................55 Firmingup the plan ..........................................55 Management issues...........................................57 The spacecraft ..............................................58 Deep-space tracking ..........................................67 viii Contents 5. The Apollo commitment........................................71 The role of man in space ......................................71 Kennedy's challenge ..........................................73 Rangers for Apollo...........................................82 Apollo underway ............................................84 6. Ranger struggles .............................................89 Stranded...................................................89 Lunar flyby ................................................92 Lobotomy .................................................97 Power failure .............................................. 100 TV failure................................................. 107 7. Ranger triumphs ............................................ 111 Success at last.............................................. 111 Repeat performance ......................................... 120 TV spectacular ............................................. 127 Mission accomplished........................................ 135 8. Soviet activity .............................................. 137 The second generation ....................................... 137 Fillingin the gap ........................................... 137 On the surface ............................................. 138 In lunar orbit .............................................. 140 9. Developing Lunar Orbiter ..................................... 143 Changing horses ............................................ 143 Boeingwins ............................................... 146 Mission objectives .......................................... 149 The spacecraft ............................................. 153 10. On the surface ............................................. 165 ``My God, it landed!''........................................ 165 Tumblingout of control ...................................... 199 11. The Apollo zone ............................................ 203 Reconnaissance flights ....................................... 203 Apollo site short-list ......................................... 285 12. Scratching the Moon ......................................... 287 A bouncy landing ........................................... 287 Outcome unknown .......................................... 314 13. Orbiters for science .......................................... 317 Global mapping ............................................ 317 Scientific targets ............................................ 321 Wrappingup .............................................. 324 Contents ix 14. Tasting the Moon ........................................... 325 A risky descent............................................. 325 On the meridian ............................................ 349 Inferences about the maria .................................... 364 The southern highlands ...................................... 366 Rovingplans .............................................. 392 15. Apollo development .......................................... 397 Organisation............................................... 397 Plans and schedules ......................................... 398 Early unmanned testing ...................................... 406 The Gemini legacy .......................................... 410 Setback and recovery ........................................ 411 16. Apollo picks up the pace ...................................... 421 Moon rocket .............................................. 421 A spectacular `all up' test ..................................... 423 The first LM .............................................. 428 A daringplan .............................................. 431 Boringholes in the sky ....................................... 439 MenorbittheMoon!........................................ 441 The Spider ................................................ 447 Dress rehearsal ............................................. 452 Endgame.................................................459 Index ..................................................... 463 Illustrations Foreword Paul D. Spudis ................................................ xxii Chapter 1 A map of the Moon by Thomas Harriot ...............................5 Galileo's sketches of the Moon ......................................7 Michel van Langren's map of the Moon ...............................9 A map of the Moon by Johann Hevelius..............................10 Giovanni Battista Riccioli's lunar map. ...............................11 A map of the Moon by Giovanni Domenico Cassini.....................12 Tobius Mayer's map of the Moon...................................13 Chapter 2 The volcanic `fountain' origin of lunar craters ..........................20 Grove Karl Gilbert perceived `sculpture' ..............................21 The `lunar grid system' of J.E. Spurr.................................22 Harold C. Urey.................................................24 Gerard P. Kuiper ...............................................25 Eugene M. Shoemaker ...........................................27 Chapter 3 The Vanguard rocket explodes on the pad.............................38 Details of the Explorer 1 satellite ...................................39 Explorer 1 atop its Juno I launch vehicle. .............................40 Pickering, van Allen and von Braun .................................41 A Huntsville Times report of America's first satellite .....................42 A model of the Pioneer 1 satellite ...................................44 The Thor-Able launch vehicle with Pioneer 1 ..........................46 Technicians prepare the Pioneer 3 satellite.............................47 The Juno II launch vehicle with Pioneer 4.............................48 A picture of the far-side of the Moon taken by Luna 3 ...................54 xii Illustrations Chapter 4 Details of the Block I Ranger spacecraft ..............................60 The configuration of the Block I Ranger..............................61 The surface package subsystem of the Block II Ranger ...................62 A model of the Block II Ranger ....................................64 The Deep Space Instrumentation Facility .............................68 Chapter 5 The Huntsville Times reports the first man in space ......................75 A memo to Lyndon B. Johnson from John F. Kennedy ..................77 A Redstone lifts off with Alan B. Shepard on a Mercury mission ...........79 Alan B. Shepard with John F. Kennedy at the White House ...............80 John F. Kennedy speakingto Congress on 25 May 1961 ..................81 The shutteringof the cameras of the Block III RangerTV system ...........83 Detail of the Block III Ranger spacecraft .............................85 A model of the Block III Ranger ...................................86 An Atlas lifts off with John H. Glenn on a Mercury mission...............87 Chapter 6 Preparingthe Ranger1 spacecraft ...................................91 The surface package subsystem of the Block II Ranger ...................95 An Atlas-Agena lifts off with the Ranger 4 spacecraft ....................98 The Space Flight Operations Center at JPL........................... 102 The auditorium at JPL awaits news of Ranger 6's fate .................. 108 Chapter 7 The Space Flight Operations Facility at JPL . ....................... 112 Pictures from Ranger 7 ....................................... 114±18 A plaster model of the lunar surface based on Ranger 7 imagery .......... 119 Pictures from Ranger 8 ........................................ 122±6 Ranger 9's terminal manoeuvre ...................................