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Young World
WORLD OF SCIENCE
Beyond disaster
DR. T. V. PADMA
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The launch of Apollo 14 was perfect.
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After the near disaster of Apollo 13 there was some anxiety about the future of the Apollo mission but the programme went on and Apollo 14 was launched on January 31, 1971, with the crew of Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, and Stuart Roosa.
The launch was perfect. But hours later there was a serious problem. Stu Roosa was preparing to dock the command module with the lunar module. He was very confident because he had simulated this manoeuvre many times in the past 19 months of training. But instead of docking, the two ships drifted apart after a moment. Before descent, another problem arose. The abort light on Lunar Module started to flash. Mitchell and Shepard waited for a message from Mission control.
Collecting samples
Computer programmers worked furiously. They decided that this was a false alarm and devised a way to re-programme the LM computer to over-ride the abort signal. This worked but then as the command module was descending, the landing radar had to lock on to the echoes of its signals bounding off the surface of the Moon, and it did not happen. Mitchell and Shepard knew that the Mission might still have to be aborted if the radar did not come in at 10,000ft. It was 22,000 ft and Mitchell urged the radar to “come on” and happily it did.
The astronauts descended on the selected spot. On February 6, Shepard and Mitchell started their Moonwalk. They had with them a Modular Equipment Transporter and in it there were geology tools, sample bags and other gear. Rocks were collected and photographs were taken. The Moonwalk lasted for four-and-a-half hours and they were able to achieve more than one walk.
And then Shepard did what to him was memorable. He stood before the TV camera and announced: “In my left hand I have a little white pellet that’s familiar to millions of Americans…” and using a contingency sample collector he drove a golf ball saying the ball had travelled “miles and miles and miles”. The astronauts returned after a total of 95 pounds of samples was collected.
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