Space: THE EMERGING FACE OF THE MOON

AX the high drama of man’s first halting steps on the moon was recalled in remarkable detail last week when NASA released the first color photographs from the Apollo mission. The still shots in particular displayed the harsh beauty of the barren landscape around Tranquillity Base as strong unfiltered sunlight etched myriad craters in deep shadow. The 16-mm. motion-picture films of Eagle’s touchdown on the lunar surface brought back that dangerous moment with tense immediacy. The movies were so clear and sharp that they allowed scientists to pinpoint the landing area precisely. And with the exact coordinates to guide them, astronomers at California’s Lick Observatory were finally able to bounce a laser beam off the reflecting mirror left behind by the astronauts.

Like everything else that came back aboard Apollo 11, the film had to undergo elaborate decontamination procedures in Houston. Technicians were doubly cautious because, in a final checkout of their methods, a strip of test film was accidentally destroyed. The astronauts themselves were so curious about their photographic efforts that they waited up late one night to see the first results. They had every reason to be satisfied. Their pictures added up to a remarkable visual record of man’s most adventurous journey.

The pictures also contributed immeasurably to the scientific detective work now under way at Houston. There, inside the Manned Spacecraft Center’s

Lunar Receiving Lab (LRL), where the Apollo 11 astronauts are spending their postflight quarantine, teams of scientists are trying to put together bits and pieces of the lunar puzzle. Much of the work proceeds at a slow, painstaking pace. Last week, some NASA geologists seemed almost apologetic about their progress. “I’ve never been so frustrated in my life,” complained Mineralogist Elbert King, the LRL’s curator. “We’ve been working for years to get the lunar samples in our clutches. But I was unable to find a single mineral that I could immediately identify.”

Even so, the face of the moon is slowly beginning to emerge. Poring over the moon rocks with their microscopes, spectroscopes and radiation counters, the LRL’s scientists have already pried loose some of the moon’s long-guarded secrets. By analyzing a pinch of the powdery lunar dust with a flame ionization detector, Chemist Richard Johnson of NASA’s Ames Research Center found the first conclusive evidence of organic compounds on the moon. The presence of these carbon-containing compounds does not prove the existence of life on the moon—simply that its soil contains an element that is basic to life on earth. Johnson found only 25 parts per million of such compounds in his lunar sample, compared with perhaps 10,000 p.p.m. in a typical backyard sample of the earth’s soil. The scientists also confirmed a surprising abundance of titanium on the moon. Though this space-age metal, vital in the manufacture of heatresistant parts for jet engines and rockets, is relatively rare on earth, one lunar sample was assayed at 6% titanium.

Perhaps the most fascinating find, geologically, was the discovery of tiny beads or grains of glass in the lunar dust —which seemed to explain what Astronaut Buzz Aldrin meant when he described the lunar surface as slippery. Geologists tentatively ascribed the abundance of the glassy material to meteors. Because of the immense heat generated on impact, speculated Harvard’s Clifford Frondel, the invading material would have been vaporized, along with chunks of the lunar surface. After cooling, the vapor may have rained back in the form of glass spheroids. But that explanation raised a baffling question: Since lunar gravity is not even strong enough to retain an atmosphere, why did the vaporized material-not drift off into space?

Lunar Landslides

Chemists also confirmed the possibly volcanic character of many of the lunar samples. The minerals that they have already identified include feldspar and olivine—both found on earth. Other information came by radio from the lunar surface itself. Despite fears that the intense heat of the two-week lunar day might ruin its intricate mechanism, the seismometer left behind at Tranquillity Base continued to function, recording more than two dozen “seismic events.” Some of the tracings seemed remarkably like shocks recorded during quakes on earth. Other signals pointed to the possibility of lunar landslides, set off in crater walls by the dramatic temperature changes that range from a high of 240° F. to a low of -250° at the lunar midnight.

These findings are beginning to suggest that the moon may well prove to be far more like the earth than many scientists had imagined. Study of the patterns of seismic events, NASA geologists say, seems to indicate that the moon, like the earth, may be a multilayered body with a basaltic crust perhaps twelve miles thick (v. a maximum of 25 miles on earth), and a hot interior core. Apollo’s preliminary findings are also persuading some distinguished scientists to consider re-examining their lunar theories. Among them is Nobel Chemistry Laureate Harold C. Urey, long a proponent of a “cold” moon.

Despite the undeniable progress of the Apollo postmortem, there were some glitches. A vital rubber glove used to reach into the vacuum chamber holding the lunar rocks and equipment cracked, causing air to rush into the chamber. Two technicians, exposed to lunar material, were quickly placed in quarantine, at least until the astronauts get a clean bill of health. The plumbing presented a more familiar problem. Twice a urinal backed up in an unquarantined section of the spanking new $15.8 million lab. That caused a full day’s delay in experiments.

Space agency scientists were also alarmed—and more than a little irritated —by President Nixon’s announcement during his current global tour that once the scientists have finished their studies, he plans to send souvenir pieces of lunar material to world leaders. In Houston, where the 54 Ibs. of rocks are being handled as priceless treasures, the reaction was anger. “How the hell many rocks does he think we have?” muttered one scientist. Later, however, some of the scientists conceded that Nixon’s generosity might pay off in international good will, once more rocks are gathered from the moon.

The astronauts, who will remain in quarantine until next week, took no part in the scientific examination of the rocks. But they were kept busy in their sealed-off quarters in the LRL with daily debriefings with NASA officials and fellow astronauts, including the crewmen of the scheduled Apollo 12 flight in November. Many of the discussions centered on such technical problems as the lunar module’s limited fuel reserves. Because Neil Armstrong was forced at the last minute to take over the controls to avoid setting down in a boulder-strewn crater, NASA has scheduled landings on only the flattest lunar terrain until the LM’s fuel capacity can be increased. That will mean no sorties into deep craters or rocky highlands for at least four more Apollo flights.

Slight Correction

The health of the astronauts was described as excellent. Armstrong has lost just under six pounds and Buzz Aldrin three, but neither man has displayed any obvious ill-effects from the gravity-free flight, the lunar stroll or the lunar environment. Mike Collins, who remained behind in the command ship, lost no weight at all. Locked away with 16 other men—including two doctors and a NASA public relations man—the astronauts spent their free hours playing pingpong, watching color TV and reading the accounts of their voyage (which are sent through an air lock and sterilized by ultraviolet light). After their leisurely evening meals (sample menu: T-bone steak, a bottle of 1964 Chateau Lafite Bordeaux), the astronauts usually chatted with their families through the glass partition.

Though the astronauts will not make any public statements until after their release on Aug. 12, NASA announced that, at Armstrong’s request, it is amending the record of his first words on the moon. Armstrong explained that the article “a” had apparently been lost in transmission back to earth. Thus his statement should read: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” The change reflected the humility of the first mortal to reach the moon.