PhilStooke

PhilStooke, 3 months ago to random

Finally this is a circular projection (similar to a straight polar projection) of the EVA 1 rover panorama. Laying it out like this makes it easier to find this spot on an LRO image to get an exact location.

PhilStooke, 3 months ago to random

Next, a close-up of Victory itself, probably a secondary crater cluster. These rover pans are rarely seen. There is a huge amount of fascinating stuff waiting to be done with Apollo images while we wait to go back to the Moon. Polish your mouse, lube your elbow and go to it!

PhilStooke, 3 months ago to random

The poster I linked to showed some Apollo 17 EVA maps (pay particular attention to the area around Hole in the Wall, which was very badly represented on pre-LRO maps). Here is another segment, around Shorty crater on EVA 2. Tracks were fairly well seen in LRO images here, unlike many other parts of the traverses. The white line is the pre-LRO estimate of the route, pretty good here. Fitzgibbon: next post. Tomorrow we will locate the landing site.

PhilStooke, 3 months ago to random

The crater called SWP on the map a few days ago is now called Bowen-Apollo. The biggest deviation of the route from the pre-LRO map is between Station 8 and Cochise, where the old estimate was 400 m out. Similar errors are found in EVA 2 on the approach to Hole in the Wall. Tomorrow, a close-up and more about the mysterious crater Fitzgibbon.

PhilStooke, 3 months ago to random

This link is to a conference poster describing the mapping of Apollo 17 traverses:

https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2020/eposter/1001.pdf

Today's map is an overview of EVA 3. A gray line shows the pre-planned rover route. White shows the pre-LRO map, which is linked here:

https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/LPST/43d1s2/

Black is my mapping based occasionally on tracks visible in LRO images but mainly on comparing photos taken en route with LRO images.

PhilStooke, 3 months ago to random

This is a map of the Apollo 17 LM area with ALSEP and the SEP (Surface Electrical Properties) array. It's drawn on a background which is a shaded relief drawing based on Apollo 17 panoramic camera images, not LRO images which I would usually use here. That's because I am nearly at the end of a massive update of my old Moon book (of which more anon) but I have not yet got to this image, so this is straight out of the old book. Tomorrow, an EVA map.

PhilStooke, 3 months ago to random

Let's start Apollo 17 with some placenames. The valley between the two massifs is called the Taurus-Littrow Valley, from the Taurus Mountains and Littrow crater, both north of the valley. SWP is the Science Working Panel, a group who worked on site selection for this mission. MOCR is the Mission Operations Control Room (i.e. Mission Control). Fitzgibbon... not a name used during the mission and it's a fun story so we will come back to it later. Tomorrow: a closer look.

PhilStooke, 3 months ago to random

Here are two last views from Apollo 16. Top: Stone Mountain (image AS16-113-18326). Bottom: Smoky Mountains (image AS16-107-17471).

PhilStooke, 3 months ago to random

This is a zoom-in to the Apollo 16 site. The 50th map in this series of lunar lander maps. Originally I thought to do 2 per lander but it has grown a bit since then. Not to mention the extra images every day or two! The figure numbers noted in the image are place-holders, and will actually by quite a lot higher in the final version. Tomorrow... on to Apollo 17.

PhilStooke, 3 months ago to random

Here are three Apollo 16 rover panoramas (C is a closeup of B). The foregrounds don't match because the rover is moving, so they are cropped out. The rover TV camera gets in the way in places. A is EVA 2 on the way back to the LM. B and C are Palmetto crater, from the little circle on the traverse map. D is south of Palmetto, an unnamed crater.

PhilStooke, 3 months ago to random

Apollo 16... this is part of the traverse map for EVA 3. John Young drove the rover back almost exactly on the outbound tracks most of the way. Note the little loop just below the middle. Here Young drove in a tight circle while Charlie Duke took pictures ("click, click, click"). When fitted together they make a panoramic image of the surroundings. This 'rover pan' method was invented by Duke on EVA 2 and used here and on Apollo 17. Tomorrow, locating the landing site.

PhilStooke, 3 months ago to random

Apollo 16 EVAs. This map is based on tracks visible in LRO images - for Apollo 16 they are mostly easy to find, much easier than Apollo 15 and 17 (17 is almost impossible in some areas, easy in others). In a few areas I used pictures taken along the way by Charlie Duke, comparing them with LRO images. Here is the best pre-LRO map:

https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/LPST/78d2s2/

Differences are small except between stations 6 and 8 (7 was dropped) where they zigzagged for better visibility.

PhilStooke, 3 months ago to random

Here are some views from the Apollo 16 site. Top: view from the LM window before EVA 1. Below it, a view of the ALSEP (Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package). Next, craters seen on the first EVA after setting up the ALSEP. Bottom: EVA 2 view from Stone Mountain.

PhilStooke, 3 months ago to random

Two maps of the Apollo 16 landing site showing activities around the LM. SWC is the solar wind collector. PLSS is the Primary (or Portable) Life Support System, i.e. the 'backpack', thrown out of the hatch when no longer needed. Tomorrow, some EVA mapping.

PhilStooke, 3 months ago to random

The top map shows the target area for the LM ascent stage impact, done to create a seismic signal after it was no longer needed. But for Apollo 16 they lost control of the LM after it was jettisoned and it was not deorbited. The impact site was found recently following very detailed orbit analysis:

https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2023/pdf/1025.pdf

PhilStooke, 3 months ago to random

Moving on to Apollo 16. This is the site with some names, familiar close to he landing site but the more distant ones will be less familiar. The site was supposed to be far enough from the Imbrium basin that it would not be dominated by Imbrium ejecta. It was also expected to sample a new kind of highland volcanism, but that was a mistake, a failure of the photogeologic mapping done before the mission. The astronauts understood that immediately.

PhilStooke, 3 months ago to random

This shows the fragments arranged in a strip with gaps. Top: the two horizon sections. The crater is marked on an earlier map. B is the pan in 'raw' form, C shows it with respect to the horizon. D is a map of the site. E shows the sample site before sampling. F and G are views of the workspace with different lighting. G was printed in the Izvestia newspaper and here, scanned off a microfilm version in our library. Next: the southern horizon.

PhilStooke, 3 months ago to random

I said a closer look, but also a bit more site context. The fist map is a broader context. The second shows various guesses about the location - mine from 2007 is from my first atlas. Then two LRO closeups with different lighting. The possible debris fragment is bright in both views, is similar to debris spotted around Luna 24 and several Apollos (bits of insulkation etc. blown away by the ascent rocket firing), and it's not in the surface images. Tomorrow - those images.

PhilStooke, 3 months ago to random

Apollo 15 EVAs. Before LRO, this was the best map available:

https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/LPST/41b4s4/150dpi.jpg

Compare it with my map, especially the northern half of EVA 2. My map is made by finding rover tracks in LRO images - easy in a few places, very hard in most places. Various image processing tricks are needed including merging east and west illumination images to cancel shadows and emphasize albedo. Apollo panoramic camera images couldn't resolve tracks except right at the LM. Next - detailed EVA maps.

PhilStooke, 3 months ago to random

It's not all about you, Moon. Here is an experimental map of asteroid Didymos, made using coordinates from this preprint by Barnouin et al.:

https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-3399230/v1

PhilStooke, 3 months ago to random

Apollo 15, the 'great voyage of exploration' (so said a NASA Special Publication). What can I say? I watched it live on TV and well remember seeing the rover being prepared, gradually becoming aware that the slanting streak of light above the rover was the top of a mountain in the distance, most of it still hidden in shadow. Here is the area around the LM. Tomorrow, some EVA mapping.

PhilStooke, 3 months ago to random

Where did Apollo 14 land? Right here! - this set of maps zooms in on the location. Tomorrow... according to my calculations, the next landing is Apollo 15.

PhilStooke, 4 months ago to random

These three views were taken from the LM windows, A before EVA 1, B after EVA 1, C after EVA 2. Note the LM shadow getting shorter.

PhilStooke, 4 months ago to random

The top part of this map is one section of a 2-part map of EVA 1 for Apollo 14. Mitchell's 'quadruplet' crater is identified as well as some of the activities including collecting 'football-sized' rocks. The bottom part of the map is a summary of activities at the end of EVA 2 when Mitchell visited Turtle Rock and Shepard walked out to the ALSEP to check the central station antenna (not labelled on this half of the map). Tomorrow: getting some context.

PhilStooke, 4 months ago to random

This is the Apollo 14 landing site. The 'quadruplet' craters (the 4th crater will show up tomorrow) are not named on mission maps but were referred to by Ed Mitchell. MET was the small cart they pulled around. The 'dark spot' is probably a small rock or crater showing up in high sun LRO images but its identity is not very obvious in surface images. Maybe it was a bit of debris (packaging etc.) blown there during the LM ascent.