The Apollo Programs - Statistics Project Example

The Apollo Program The Introduction The objective of the Apollo mission program was to take humans to the Moon and bring them back to Earth without any harm being done to them (NASA 2009). They also tested new spacecrafts during these missions (NASA 2012). Beginning with Apollo 11 Astronauts started to make successful lunar landing. Of the six subsequent missions – Apollo 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17, Apollo 13 was unsuccessful. Apollo 13 mission has been described as a ‘lunar swingby’ as the objective of landing on the moon was not achieved due to a malfunction (NASA 2009). However, Apollo 12, 14, 15, 16, 17 also landed on the moon successfully as with the Apollo 11 mission. Comparison of the Seven Missions The missions were all launched from the Kennedy Air Space Center in Florida. Apollo 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 were similar in terms of their basic objectives – lunar landing and exploration of the Moon. Each mission had a total of three Astronauts. The Astronauts on missions 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17 directly observed lunar samples and performed a number of experiments that provided major insights relating to lunar mineralogy and petrology (Hughes et al. 2006, 1547). The goal of lunar landing was not achieved on mission 13 due to the explosion of an oxygen tank (NASA 2012). However, the shorter than usual orbit around the moon provided the Astronauts with photographing opportunities. The missions varied in length from approximately 6 days to approximately 13 days. Apollo 13 was the shortest (5 days, 22 hours and 54 minutes) because it had to be aborted. See Table 1 for information on the total days in earth and lunar orbit. Figure 1 illustrates this graphically. The total time spent on the moon increased with each successful landing. A total of 21 hours and 36 minutes was spent on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. The time increased to 31 hours and 31 minutes on Apollo 12, 33 hours and 30 minutes on Apollo 14, 66 hours and 55 minutes on Apollo 15, 71 hours and 2 minutes on Apollo 16 and 75 hours on Apollo 17. See Table 1 for details. A graphical illustration of this is shown in Figure 1. The total number of moon walks as well as the time spent increased with each mission. Table 1 indicates that Apollo 11 had only one spacewalk. Of all the spacewalks this was of the shortest duration – 2 hours and 30 minutes. The Apollo 12 mission saw an increase in the number of moon walks to 2 along with an increase in the total time spent – 7 hours and 45 minutes. The Apollo 14 mission also had 2 moon walks which took place over a total of 9 hours and 21 minutes. The total moon walks increased to 3 for the three subsequent Apollo missions with Apollo 15 lasting for 18 hours and 33 minutes, Apollo 16 – 20 hours and 17 minutes and Apollo 17 – 22 hours and 2 minutes. There was no moon walk for Apollo 13 as it did land on the Moon. Figure 2 shows a graphical illustration of the number of moonwalks on each mission. Differences in Accomplishments Each mission was somewhat different from the others in terms of accomplishments. The Apollo 11 mission was the first to land humans on the moon (Manned Spacecraft Center 1969, p. ). An evaluation on the ability to move about was carried out. The Astronauts found that it was possible to move about confidently and with some level of rapidity and a collection of 47 pounds of surface matter were taken for analysis on this mission. Only one midcourse correction was necessary on this mission and bad weather resulted in movements on the splashdown point. The Apollo 12 mission provided humans with their first opportunity of an extensive sampling of rocks within 500 meter of where the astronauts landed. The Astronauts on this mission also took soil samples and caught solar wind in aluminum foil. This mission was also successful. The Apollo 13 mission can be described as unsuccessful because it did not land on the moon. However, it did provide opportunities for photographs to be taken. It was the only unsuccessful mission of the Apollo program. The Apollo 14 mission landed on Fra Mauro which has some of overly exposed geological formation. The Astronauts ability to transport their tools and to collect samples improved with the use of a Modularized Equipment Transporter – a light cart (NASA 2009). This mission saw a first in that it was the first time that a golf ball was hit on the moon. The Apollo 15 mission was one of the first advanced missions which were designed so that the exploration of the moon would last over a longer period (LPI 2012). More instruments were used to collect information and a lunar roving vehicle was also included on the mission. This vehicle enabled the astronauts to a move quickly by as much as 10 mph on the Moon (LPI 2012). The first lift-off as well as a walk in deep space was recorded. This mission was the first in the “J” series. In addition to numerous experiments, the Astronauts on the Apollo 16 mission visited Stone Mountain and the North Ray Crater where samples were taken. After carrying out their activities they detected a problem in the engine of the spacecraft. The problem successfully corrected they encountered no problems in landing. The Apollo 17 mission was the culminating mission in the Apollo program (NASA 2009). The main aim of this mission was to take samples of basin-rim highland and mare and to carry out an investigation on their relationship. This mission has led to various studies including the structure of craters. This information in addition to other matters pertaining to the seven missions is summarized in Table 2. Conclusion The information from these missions has been used by various scientists across the world in their study of rocks and soil. This information has also helped them to make progress in their explorations into space. Other studies including Wiechart et al (2001, 345) noted the abundance of Oxygen Isotopes in 31 of the lunar samples from all but one of the successful Apollo missions 14. Mitroff and Mason (1974, 1501) carried also out a study on some of the difficulties in evaluating programs by focusing on the Apollo missions. Tables and Graphs Apollo Mission Program Information Mission Duration of Earth and Lunar Orbit (hrs) Time Spent on the Moon (hrs) Total Spacewalks (Number) Duration of Spacewalks (hrs) Apollo 11 195.05 21.6 1 2.5 Apollo 12 244.6 31.52 2 2.75 Apollo 13 142.9 0 0 0 Apollo 14 216.03 33.5 2 9.33 Apollo 15 295.2 66.92 3 18.55 Apollo 16 265.85 71.03 3 20.28 Apollo 17 301.87 75 3 22.03 Table 1 Mission Date landed Main objectives Location landed Materials collected Significant Change Apollo 11 20-Jul-69 Land on the moon and collect samples Mare Tranquillitatis Lunar samples - 50 rocks and soil. Basalts and breccias were the two man types of rocks found First mission to the Moon Apollo 12 19-Nov-69 To study the moon extensively and identify other areas for study in the future (LPI 2012) Oceanus Procellarum 34 kg of samples consisting of 45 rocks and lunar soil. This time the samples included materials from 40cm below the surface (LPI 2012) Landing of great significance to future exploration (LPI 2012) Apollo 13 Did not land Explore the moon, and sample the Imbrium Basin and deploy and activate the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) (LPI 2012). Did not land Only photographs were taken of the moon (NASA 2009) The mission did not achieve its goal due to problems (NASA 2009) Apollo 14 31-Jan-71 Same as Apollo 13 including bringing a larger quantity of material for testing (LPI 2012) Valley between Fra Mauro and Imbrium Basin (LP 2012) 42kg of rocks and soil were collected (LP 2012) The Modular Equipment Transporter was used to carry tools and equipment required for the exploration (LPI 2012) Apollo 15 30-Jul-71 Collect rocks and Study Hadley Rille - a volcanic channel Mare Imbrium at the base of the Apennine Mountains Collected 370 individual rock and soil samples LPI 2012) Installation of scientific instruments for investigations from lunar orbit (LPI 2012) Apollo 16 21-Apr-72 To study the Cayley and the Descartes Formations Cayley Plains - Edge of the Descartes Mountains to the West of Kant Plateau (LPI 2012) Collected 96kg of samples (LPI 2012) Crew sampled and visited an area not previously visited and sampled. 731 individual rock samples were collected as well as material from 2.2 meters below the Moons surface Apollo 17 11-Dec-72 To sample basin-rim highland materials and mare material in close vicinity. Taurus-Littrow near the rim of the Serenitatis Basin (LPI 2012) Collected 111kg of samples (LPI 2012) 741 rock and soil samples were taken as well as materials from 3 meters below the surface of the Moon (LPI 2012) Table 2 Figure 1 Figure 2 References Hughes, John. M., Bradley L. Jolliff, and Mickey E. Gunter. 2006.The atomic arrangement of merrillite from the Fra Mauro Formation, Apollo 14 lunar mission: The first structure of merrillite from the Moon, American Mineralogist 91: 1547-52. Lunar and Planetary Institute (2012) Apollo 15 Mission. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_15/. (Accessed July 1, 2012) Manned Spacecraft Center. (1969). Apollo 11 Flight Plan. http://next.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11fltpln_final_reformat.pdf (Accessed June 30, 2012) Mitroff, Ian I. and Richard O. Mason. 1974. On Evaluating the Scientific Contribution of the Apollo Moon Missions via Information Theory: A Study of the Scientist-Scientist Relationship. Management Science, 20 (12): 1501–13 NASA (2009).The Apollo program. http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/apollo/index.html. (Accessed June 30, 2012) NASA (2012). Apollo. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/index.html. (Accessed June 30, 2012) Wiechart, U., A.N. Halliday, D.C. Lee, G.A. Snyder, L.A. Taylor and D. Rumble. 2001. Oxygen Isotopes and Moon-Forming Giant Impact. Science 294 (5541): 345-8 Read More