DOCUMENT RESUME ED 068 294 SE014 558 AUTHOR Coard, E. A. TITLE Space Exploration: Manned and Unmanned Flight. Aerospace Education III. INSTITUTION Air Univ., Maxwell AFB, Ala. Junior Reserve Office Training Corps. SPONS AGENCY Department of Defense, Washington, D.C. PUB DATE 71 NOTE 196p. EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$6.58 DESCRIPTORS *Aerospace Education; *Aerospace Technology; Lunar Research; National Organizations; *Programs; *Resource Materials; *Space Sciences; Supplementary Textbooks; Textbooks ABSTRACT This book, for use only in the Air Force ROTC training program, deals with the idea of space exploration. The possibility of going into space and subsequent moon landings have encouraged the government and scientists to formulate future plans in this field. Brief descriptions (mostly informative in nature) of these plans provide an account of future challenges and impact on life situations. The Apollo program will culminate in a Skylab meant to gather information about space and the planets. The Skylab should lead to setting up a permanent space station. Later probes of planets, especially Venus, will provide information that might prove very useful in the study of the universe. (PS) FILMED FROM BEST AVAILABLE COPY t- , C.) 1 1 1 U S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH EDUCATION & WELFARE OFFICE OF EOUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO DUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIG MANN(' IT POINTS OF VIM OR OPIN IONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDU CATION POSITION OR POLICY Aerospace Education III Space Exploration Manned and Unmanned Flight E. A. COARD Academic Publications Division 3825th Support Group (Academic) AIR FORCE JUNIOR ROTC ,UR UNIVERSITY MAXWELL MR FORCE BASE, ALABAMA ii/ 1971 This publication has been reviewed and approved by responsible personnel of the Air University in accordance withcurrent di- relives on doctrine, policy, essentiality, propriety, and quality. This book will not be offered for sale.Itis for use only in the Air Force ROTC program. 3 Preface WHEN AMERICAN astronauts first landed on the moon, in July 1969, the United States had reached its first- priority goal in space exploration, and President Nixon set new goals for the program. In making a decision about what these goals should be, the President fol- lowed the recommendations of his special Space Task Group, which had drawn up a broad program for the future. This book takes a look at that programnow and as projected into the remainder of the 1970s. Until the end of 1972 our efforts will continue to center on the Apollo flights, but we shall no longer be learning how to operate the Apollo spacecraft and the Saturn boosters. Instead, our main interest will be focused on the exploration of the moon. The last Apollo flights are spaced at six-month or longer inter- vals to allow scientists to gain as much information as possible from the results of one landing before we make another. In 1973, after the Apollo flights have beencom- pleted, the Skylab will be placed in earth orbit, and astronauts will make three visits to the laboratory to conduct experiments. The Skylab flights will makeuse of the knowledge obtained in our probes ofspace and will give us valuable information about constructing a permanent space station. During the entire decade of the 1970swe shall con- tinue with our program for exploring the planets, and we are likely to make exciting new discoveries.In 4 1973 a Mariner spacecraft will be modified to take pictures of the surface of the cloud-shrouded planet Venus, which astronomers have never seen. Later the Viking, a combination orbiter and soft-lander, will inake a landing on Mars to obtain firsthand evidence about life on that planet. The program for exploring the planets will climax with the Grand Tours of the outer planets near the end of the decade. A like oppor- tunity for making such Grand Tours will not present itself for another 180 years. Taken as a whole, our program for exploring space during the 1970s promises to be even more exciting than our program for reaching the moon. Our present program, although undertaken with a reduced budget, can promise us more because we have the knowledge of the first decade of space exploration upon which to build. In making a survey of our national space program, this volume places emphasis upon exploration and the search for scientific knowledge. You have studied about the practical applications of space technology in the first year of the course. Applications are re- viewed briefly in the introductory chapter only to re- mind you that scientific knowledge obtained during space exploration can be put to many practical uses. In planning its long-range space program, however, our country cannot allow its goals to be tied too closely to practical applications. Our Nation must reach out boldly to explore space without attempting to predict exactly what kind of practical applications will result. When, in 1961, President Kennedy proposed the lunar landing as a national goal, he said that space is a new kind of ocean and we must learn to sail upon it. We have learned how to travel in space, and some of the prospects that await us in the future are even ivs 114 more promising than the lunar landing. Now that the frontiers have disappeared from the planet earth, we are finding a new frontier in space. This frontier will remain forever as a challenge to man's desire to explore the unknown. This book describes some of our adven- tures on the space frontier. Later books in this year's program will tell you more about the problems we face in advancing on the space frontier and the benefits to be gained. At the end of each chapter, you will find a list of references for further reading. These are merely sug- gestions. There are many other good references avail- able at present, and new books about space are con- stantly being published. You will need to consult the press and television for reports on the most recent launchings, and your teacher will supply you with the latest NASA publications about the space program. Grateful acknowledgment is made to NASA for the photographs used in this book. Except where other- wise indicated, all photographs and airbrush drawings used in this book have been provided by NASA. Contents PREFACE in Chapter 1SPACEEXPLORATION AND THE NATIONAL SPACE PROGRAM 1 Lunar Landing: A Goal Achieved. 2 Present Goals of the Space Program. 4 Practical Applications of Space Technology. 7 Management Know-How 8 Applications Satellites 9 Spinoffs 13 Chapter 2APOLLOFLIGHTS 17 Plans for the Lunar Landing 19 Method Selected 19 Three-Module Apollo Spacecraft. 20 Saturn Boosters 24 Flight Plan for the Lunar Landing. 25 Developing and Practicing Maneuvers. 29 Ground Complex 34 Testing the Apollo Spacecraft and Its Booster 38 Apollo 7 (Earth Orbit) 39 Apollo 8 (Lunar Orbit) 42 Apollo 9 (Earth Orbit) 43 Apollo 10 (Lunar Orbit) 48 Lunar Landings 52 Apollo 11 52 Apollo 12 61 Apollo 14 63 Fight For Survival: Apollo 13 66 Future Flights 70 Chapter 3EXPLORATIONOF THE MOON 73 Physical Features of the Moon 74 Key Questions About the Moon 81 Origin of the Moon 81 Formation of the Physical Features 83 Nature of the Moon's Interior 86 Preliminary Unmanned Exploration. 87 Ranger Probes 88 vii b 7 Surveyor Soft-Landers 91 Lunar Orbiters 95 Early Manned Exploration 98 Apollo-11 Exploration 100 Apollo-12 Exploration 106 Apollo-14 Exploration 110 Summary of Tentative Findings 114 Future Exploration of the Moon 116 Chapter 4--THE SPACE STATIONAND THE SPACE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM 121 Early Ideas About a Space Station. 123 What Is a Space Station? 126 Skylab: Forerunner of the Space Station 127 Plans for the Space Station 131 Small Space Station 132 Transportation for the Space Station 134 Large Space Station 140 Chapter 5EXPLORATION OFTHE PLANETS 145 The Solar System 148 Key Questions About the Planets 150 Means for Answering the Questions 153 Men and Instrumentson Earth 153 Instruments in Space 155 The Neighboring Planets 158 Mars 160 Venus 166 The Other Planets 170 Future Planetary Flights 173 Mariner Probes 173 Pioneer Probes 174 Viking Orbit and Soft-Lander 174 Grand Tours 175 GLOSSARY 181 INDEX 187 viii .mow V Lommrft''"" I !..1.1LedI 5 I I I, I THIS CHAPTER explains that space exploration, thesearch for scientific knowledge, and practical applications ore the three mainpurposes of the notional space program. It tells why the United States set new goals for thespace program offer the lunar landing, and it explains the six goals ofour present program and tells how they relate to space exploration andthe search for scientific knowledge. Finally, the chapter describes the prod.calways in which some of the knowledge obtained from space exploration is being applied.After you have studied this chapter, you should be able to do the following: (1)explain four goals of the space program as they relate to space exploration and the search forscientific knowledge, (2) describe the three main purposes of thenational space program, and (3) tell three principal applications made of theknowledge obtained from space exploration. EXPLORATION is at the forefront of the nationalspace program and determines the direction of thatprogram. In the first decade of space exploration the United States made a long, bold stride intothe future to reach the moon, to landupon it, and to return astronauts safely to the earth. Before the end of the decadeour astronauts made four flights to the moon, and on two of these flightsthey landed on the moon to explore its surface. This exploration, unique in the history of the world, has given us a new perspectiveon the planet earth, the en- tire solar system, and the universe beyond.