Explorers

In February the Explorers learned about the early days of the U.S. manned space program, starting with a film about one of the Apollo missions to the moon and then continuing with an outing on a frigid and snowy morning to the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

During a regular meeting, the group watched an episode of the mini-series “From the Earth to the Moon.” This episode focused on the Apollo 15 mission, which is considered by many to be a scientific high point of manned space flight. Among the achievements of the mission, which was the first to carry the lunar rover car, was the discovery of a piece of anorthositic rock that became known as “the Genesis rock” because of its extreme age.

In addition to the actual mission, the episode detailed the geologic training of the crew. Commander Dave Scott and lunar module pilot Jim Irwin, who each landed on the moon and explored the surface, were mentored in field geology by Cal Tech professor Lee Silver. Command module pilot Al Worden, who remained in lunar orbit while his colleagues worked below, was trained by another expert, Farouk El-Baz. The training of all three astronauts emphasized field observations and learning to provide detailed descriptions and context of collected rocks so that scientists back on Earth could better analyze their meaning and importance.

At the air force museum, the group visited the Space and Missile Gallery. Featuring the actual Apollo 15 command module Endeavour, along with unflown Mercury and Gemini capsules, the gallery is an ideal place to learn about the early days of the space program. The Explorers discussed the political factors that led President John F. Kennedy to issue the challenge to reach the moon, as well as the technological issues that had to be overcome to make Kennedy’s goal a reality.

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Another highlight of the gallery was a Titan II rocket, the same type that launched the Gemini missions. Perhaps the only thing more impressive than the massive 109 foot tall missile was imagining it being dwarfed by the more-than-three-times-as-tall Saturn V rocket that launched the lunar Apollo missions. Following a brief discussion of some of the more, ahem, “delicate” issues of spaceflight (just where exactly IS the potty, anyway?), some members of the group made their way home while others stayed for a viewing of an IMAX movie about the Hubble Space Telescope and the space shuttle’s missions to repair it.

Check out the gallery to see some photos from our visit to the air force museum. To see an earlier visit to the museum, or to learn more about the topics we investigated during these sessions, click on the links below.

An Earlier Explorers Session

The Apollo Program

Apollo 15

NASA’s home page

National Museum of the United States Air Force