Off to the Highlands

Despite man's daring exploration of the lunar surface, the enigmatic moon still conceals the story of its origin and evolution. In fact, the findings of the Apollo astronauts have created new lunar mysteries. Says Apollo 16 Command Module Pilot Ken Mattingly: "The first four landing missions have really posed more questions about the moon than they've answered."

Some of the questions may be resolved by the flight of Apollo 16, scheduled to lift off from Cape Kennedy on Sunday, April 16. The spacecraft will carry Mattingly and his two crewmates, John Young and Charles Duke, on the fifth--and next to last--scheduled U.S. expedition to the moon. It may also be the most exciting. While Mattingly performs experiments in lunar orbit Aboard the command ship Casper.* Young and Duke will descend in the lunar module Orion (after the constellation), explore the surface for 21 hours and collect a record 195 Ibs. of rocks. What will make these explorations even more scientifically interesting is their site: the lunar highlands, considered the moon's oldest and most rugged terrain.

Incredible Geology. Touchdown will take place on an undulating mountain-ringed plain near the large crater Descartes (named in honor of the 17th century French philosopher and mathematician). The region is farther south of the lunar equator and at a higher elevation than any earlier landing site (about 8,000 ft. above Apollo 11 's Tranquility Base, 150 miles to the northeast). Far more significant is the geological diversity of the landing area. It may contain three basically different types of material: 1) original crustal rock dating back to the moon's birth some 4.6 billion years ago; 2) a layer that was melted and then hardened after the great asteroid impacts that created such large features as the Sea of Rains nearly a billion years later; and 3) more recent lava flows, possibly produced by the eruption of volcanoes. Explains Caltech Geologist Eugene Shoemaker: "The geology of the lunar highlands is incredibly difficult and complex, far more so than the earth's."

Like the Apollo 15 astronauts who toured the mountainous terrain near Hadley Rille last summer. Young and Duke will have the services of a lunar rover equipped with an earth-controlled color-TV camera. The rover's seat belts have been redesigned to anchor passengers more comfortably during the jouncing ride in the moon's weak gravity. The electric drilling equipment that caused Apollo 15 Astronaut Dave Scott to grunt and curse as he tried to cut into the lunar soil has been modified. Other improvements include: new foods (ham steak, fruit desserts), special drugs and liquids to compensate for the effects of weightlessness, and more efficient waste and toilet collection bags.

New scientific activities have been added. The lunar module will carry on its side special plates designed to detect cosmic rays. Young and Duke will operate a newly designed $2,000,000 electronic camera that can "photograph" ultraviolet radiation from distant stars, galaxies and giant intergalactic gas clouds, as well as the ultraviolet glow round the earth. In addition, the astronauts will set up four remote-controlled grenades that will be fired later by signals from earth and send sound waves through the moon's interior to help determine its structure.

Unfolding Rover. Young and Duke are scheduled to begin their first EVA (extravehicular activity) on Thursday, April 20, at 7:19 p.m., E.S.T., some 31 hours after their landing on the moon. They are so confident of Apollo's systems that they will not bother to collect the familiar "contingency sample"--a few specimens of lunar rock quickly gathered by previous Apollo crews immediately upon emerging from the lunar module in event their mission had to be abruptly curtailed. Instead, Young and Duke will use the precious time to set up their equipment and experiments, unfold their car from its Murphy-bed-like perch on the side of the lunar module, and then take off on a brief spin, ranging as far west as two small craters that they have named Spook and Flag. Young will put the rover through a driving test that includes "Grand Prix maneuvers" to determine the capabilities of the vehicle before returning to Orion to end the first seven-hour EVA.

The second and longer moon ride will begin Friday, April 21, at 5:44 p.m., E.S.T. Heading south, the astronauts will travel up to 21 miles from Orion --as far as they could walk if the rover broke down. Again, they will frequently stop along their winding path to pick up geological samples. Finally, after reaching the bottom slopes of 1,600-ft. Stone Mountain, they will return to Orion for the night.

On Saturday, at 5:19 p.m., E.S.T., Young and Duke will make their third and final lunar tour. The excursion will take them northward as far as a large feature called Smoky Mountain. Although this trip, too, will be largely devoted to geological investigation, it will also include another "Grand Prix" to discover any changes in the rover's performance after the three-day stay on the moon. Their lunar work done, Young and Duke will then pack up for the night. Next day they will lift off from the moon's surface, rendezvous with Mattingly aboard Casper and prepare for the long voyage home. Splashdown should be in the central Pacific near Christmas Island on Friday, April 28.

* Named by Mattingly after "the friendly ghost" of cartoon fame, because, he says, the TV images of astronauts on the moon look like apparitions.

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