Apollo Expeditions to the Moon
CHAPTER 14, Appendix I
A NEW WAY OF EXPLORATION
The great explorations of history were unique, but in some
ways all voyages of exploration are alike. There is a means of
transportation; food, tools, and a way of living; methods of
investigation, mapping, and sampling; and the collaboration of
fellow explorers. What distinguishes one voyage from another is
the place gone to and the discoveries made there. In our time,
the places were on the Moon, and the discoveries have revealed
another planet.
In Apollo, our ships were Saturns and CSMs, the latter more
than just transport and resupply ships, for they were also
orbiting laboratories, bearing spectrometers, lasers, and
precision cameras. Our sketchbooks and notebooks were cameras and
voice recordings. The alert experts of Mission Control were our
guardian angels, in addition to those issued by Providence. The
landed lunar module was our base camp, and the lunar rover was
our steed. On the Apollo 17 mission, the LM Challenger could
support us in its base-camp role for 75 hours, with a contingency
margin of 12 hours more. In one-sixth gravity, its hammocks
provided comfortable sleeping positions, with none of the lumps
of camp cots or pine boughs. The total absence of black flies or
mosquitoes was wonderful; and the rehydrated food was better than
the grub dished up by some camp cooks.
Out on the surface, the backpack could support us for seven
to eight hours, depending on physical exertion. We carried enough
extra oxygen, water, and batteries in Challenger to recharge the
backpack twice, for three major excursions outside. We also had
an emergency supply of oxygen in the backpack that could provide
at least 30 minutes of suit pressure and oxygen at large rates of
flow, in case the suit was holed. Only one aspect of work in the
pressure suit was very difficult and that was the effort of
gripping tools against pressure within the glove. Like squeezing
a tennis ball repetitively for nine hours, this was very
fatiguing to forearm muscles; we also separated our fingernails
from the quick as the nails scraped against the glove fingers.
The forearm fatigue disappeared after each night's sleep; sore
fingernails did not disappear until days after we left the Moon.
