Tag Archives: Moon

Fourteen Days on “The Moon” in Arizona

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It’s a quarter of a million miles to the Moon, we’ve got fully charged batteries, half a pack of space food, it’s daytime, and we’re wearing spacesuits. Hit it.

NASA's Lunar Electric Rover (LER). Photo courtesy NASA.

Last week I returned home from the adventure of a lifetime, a simulation of a mission on the Moon where I lived and worked inside NASA’s Lunar Electric Rover (LER) for 14 days during NASA’s Desert RATS (Research and Technology Studies) analog field test.  For the last 12 years, Desert RATS has been testing new concepts for spacesuits, robots, vehicles and tools in rugged environments that are similar to the surfaces of the Moon and Mars.  This year, Desert RATS tested how a crew of two would live and work inside a small pressurized rover (the LER), dock with various equipment and robots, and use of the rear-entry suitport for donning and doffing spacesuits.  These concepts are being tested in an effort to provide Astronauts new ways to explore the lunar surface efficiently and effectively for long duration missions.  The LER provides the crew the necessary shelter and safety to live away from their original landing site, while the suitport saves valuable time and resources by allowing Astronauts to slide in through the backpack of the spacesuits, which are attached to the outside of the rover, and be on the surface in less than 15 minutes.

Brent Garry climbs through LER suitport.

For our mission, Astronaut Mike Gernhardt and I explored Black Point Lava Flow, north of Flagstaff, Arizona.  These 14 days were packed with activities that would be completed by a crew during a real mission.  Days 1 and 2 were spent checking out the vehicle and supplies, rendezvousing with ATHLETE, and docking with the Portable Utility Palette (PUP).  Days 3 through 10 were spent studying the local geology, where we followed a series of traverses planned by the Science Team.  Using only a black and white satellite image of the area for planning, specific locations were selected for us to visit and collect samples based on a series of science questions and prioritized objectives.  Since I was the crew geologist, this was obviously my favorite part of the mission.  My favorite view was at the far end of the lava flow looking over a river valley towards the rock formations to the east.  On days 11 through 14, we docked with a portable habitat being carried by ATHLETE, moved regolith around with the LANCE, and rescued another two person crew from a broken down LER.  Four of us spent 24 hours inside one LER simulating a rescue mission on the Moon.  Surprisingly, there was still a lot of room inside with four people.  We each took turns driving and sleeping through the night.  By the time the mission was completed, Mike and I had driven over 120 kilometers (75 miles) and spent over 300 hours inside the LER.

Brent on an EVA to collect samples. Photo courtesy NASA.

Daily life inside the LER was very fun and it was convenient to have everything you needed literally within arms reach.  Each morning we tagged up with Houston to go over our daily plan and had our breakfast.  Our meals consisted of real space food and dehydrated camping food.  There was a “sink” with hot and cold water to make our meals with, which were actually really tasty.  The bathroom was a glorified camping toilet, nothing fancy, just some special plastic bags.  Our personal gear and food was stowed in lockers within the side hatches and beneath the floor boards and bunks.  We exercised for at least one hour each day using a stationary bicycle machine and resistance bands.  Special clothing with silver lined threads to kill odors allowed us to reuse the same set of shirts and shorts for the entire mission.  At night, we unfolded curtains attached to the walls and ceiling to create individual sleep stations which were both dark and sound proof.  After a good night sleep, we woke up and did it all over again.

This mission would not have been possible without an absolutely amazing ground support team who followed us every step of the way and served as the mission control back in “Houston”.  This experience truly shows that human exploration of the Moon takes more than just the crew, but relies heavily on a dedicated and hard working team back on the ground to make it all possible.

Brent Garry is a Planetary Geologist in the National Air and Space Museum’s Center for Earth and Planetary Studies.

Countdown to the Moon, Thursday, July 16

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Regular summer visitors to the National Air and Space Museum are familiar with the Museum’s popular event, Mars Day. This year, Mars is taking a backseat to allow us to honor the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing with Countdown to the Moon Day.

The Moon in 3-D. This anaglyph shows the area around the Apollo 11 landing site (yellow dot). It can be viewed in three dimensions using red/blue 3-D glasses (red lens over your left eye). More 3D images of the Moon (and glasses) will be on hand as well as staff scientists who will describe lunar geology and spacecraft landing site selection.

The day will be filled with interesting and fun hands-on activities. See the lunar landscape in 3-D; talk with scientists active in lunar research; learn about NASA’s new spacecraft for exploring the Moon; see the materials that protected astronauts on perilous re-entries; hear all about lunar dust; and talk to a geologist who has been a test driver of the new generation of lunar rovers. For youngsters ages 3-8, there will be Moon-related stories.

Meet Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean at Countdown to the Moon Day.

Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean in his studio.

As a special attraction, Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean will be on hand to welcome you to a new exhibition of his art and related artifacts, and sign copies of his book, Alan Bean: Painting Apollo, First Artist on Another World.

Don’t miss this opportunity to speak with the Museum’s experts on this day dedicated to the Moon!

Countdown to the Moon Day is on Thursday, July 16 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at the National Mall Building in downtown Washington, DC.  Visit the Countdown to the Moon Day site for more 3D anaglyphs and event information.

Kathleen Hanser is a Writer-Editor in the Office of Communications at the National Air and Space Museum.

My Three Days on the Moon

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What will the astronauts who return to the Moon with NASA’s Constellation program drive? I had a chance to find out last October as a member of NASA’s Desert Research and Technology Studies (Desert RATS) during the field test of the Lunar Electric Rover (LER) at Black Point lava flow in Arizona.

LER in Unpressurized Rover (UPR) Configuration. Photo courtesy of NASA.

During the first week, two crews, each consisting of one astronaut-commander and one geologist, tested the LER in the unpressurized rover (UPR) configuration, where the vehicle is driven standing up with the spacesuits locked securely into turrets. The turrets rotate 360 degrees so the crew can make observations to the side or behind them as they drive, a capability the Apollo astronauts did not have. The UPR allows crews to get in and out of the vehicle quickly at each geologic stop, but the disadvantage is that crew members remain in their spacesuits for the entire duration of the extra vehicular activity (EVA).

LER Uncompressed Rover (UPR) Configuration

LER in Small Pressurized (SPR) Configuration. Photo courtesy of NASA.

The final week was spent testing the LER in the Small Pressurized Rover (SPR) configuration, above, on a long duration lunar mission simulation. I served as the crew geologist alongside the mission commander, astronaut Mike Gernhardt. We lived and worked in the SPR for three days, with daily schedules modeled after Apollo and International Space Station missions. The crew followed routes to various geologic stations to conduct an extensive scientific survey of the area, covering a total distance of about 35 miles.

The SPR offers several advantages over the UPR such as driving and making science observations without wearing a suit, sleep stations, meal options, a bathroom, and the ability to quickly ingress and egress the spacesuit.  Crews enter the suits, which are attached to the rear of the SPR, through a hatch in the back of the suit and use manual levers to close the hatch and unlatch from the SPR. This eliminates the need for an airlock.

In September 2009, the Desert RATS team will conduct another field test at Black Point lava flow, with two crew members living inside the LER on a 14 day mission.

Dr. Brent Garry is a geologist in the Museum’s Center for Earth and Planetary Studies.

Watch this video presentation on Brent’s excellent adventures driving these futuristic Moon rovers.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrzV8q4QqdY]

Meet Brent and the Museum’s other planetary scientists in person at Countdown to the Moon Day on Thursday, July 16 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. in the National Mall building in honor of the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing.

Here is a NASA video of the Desert RATS in action.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRfOlipKPDk]

See also a related NASA EDGE podcast.

By the Moon's Early Light

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Flag Day is June 14 and it reminds me of one of the most famous “stars and stripes” in history – the one left on the Moon by the Apollo 11 crew in 1969. I remember clearly that day when, as a teenager, I watched with my family as the flag was planted on the lunar surface. It brought chills to us all.

It was only later that many people began to wonder why the flag appeared to be waving as if catching a breeze. How could a flag move where there is no wind, people wanted to know. But there is a simple explanation. NASA engineers, who must have had premonitions of a flag hanging limply in one of the most historic scenes ever captured on film, designed the Moon flag, and all subsequent ones, with a horizontal bar that allowed them to “fly” without the benefit of a breeze. I guess if you’re clever enough to land a man on the Moon, you’re clever enough to make a flag stand up horizontally.

You can see a replica of one of these flags – and see for yourself how it “waves” without wind – in the Lunar Module display in the National Mall building’s Lunar Exploration Vehicles exhibition.

Altogether, Apollo Moon missions have left six American flags on the lunar surface, but all are symbolic, not representative of any territorial claim. The United Nations Treaty on Outer Space precludes any territorial claims on the Moon.

For an interesting (though a bit technical) story about the creation of the Moon flags (and why they “wave”), read Where No Flag has Gone Before: Political and Technical Aspects of Placing a Flag on the Moon.

So maybe next time you are at a night game at your favorite baseball park and see the flag waving high above the crowd, look beyond to the Moon and think of the six flags flapping in the “breeze” out there too.

Share your memories or thoughts about the Apollo Moon landings on our 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11 Web site.

Kathleen Hanser is a Writer-Editor in the Office of Communications at the National Air and Space Museum.