Apollo 15

Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the American Apollo space program, the fourth to land on the Moon and the eighth successful manned mission. It was the first of what were termed "J missions", long duration stays on the Moon with a greater focus on science than had been possible on previous missions. It was also the first mission where the Lunar Roving Vehicle was used.

The mission began on July 26, 1971, and concluded on August 7. At the time, NASA called it the most successful manned flight ever achieved.[2]

Commander David Scott and Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin spent three days on the Moon and a total of 18½ hours outside the spacecraft on lunar extra-vehicular activity. The mission was the first not to land in a lunar mare, instead landing near Hadley rille in an area of the Mare Imbrium called Palus Putredinus (Marsh of Decay). The crew explored the area using the first Lunar Rover, allowing them to travel much farther from the Lunar Module lander than had previously been possible. They collected a total of 77 kg (170 lbs) of lunar surface material. At the same time, Command Module Pilot Alfred Worden orbited the Moon, using a Scientific Instrument Module (SIM) in the Service Module to study the lunar surface and environment in great detail with a panoramic camera, gamma ray spectrometer, mapping camera, laser altimeter, mass spectrometer, and lunar sub-satellite deployed at the end of Apollo 15's stay in lunar orbit (an Apollo program first).

Although the mission accomplished its objectives, this success was somewhat overshadowed by negative publicity that accompanied public awareness of postage stamps carried by the astronauts without authorization, who had made plans to sell them upon their return.

Crew
All three astronauts on the all-Air Force crew received either an honorary degree or Master's degree from the University of Michigan, including Scott's honorary degree, awarded in the spring of 1971, just months before the launch. Scott did attend the University of Michigan, but left before graduating to accept an appointment to the US Military Academy. The crewmen did their undergraduate work at the US Military Academy or the US Naval Academy.

[edit] Backup crew
Schmitt was the first member of Group 4 to be selected as either a prime or backup crew member for an Apollo flight.

Support crew

 * Joseph P. Allen
 * Robert A. Parker
 * Karl G. Henize

Flight directors

 * Gerry Griffin, Gold team
 * Milton Windler, Maroon team
 * Glynn Lunney, Black team
 * Gene Kranz, White team

Mission parameters

 * Mass:
 * Launch mass: 2,945,816 kg
 * Total spacecraft: 46,782 kg
 * CSM mass: 30,354 kg, of which CM was 5840 kg, SM 24,514 kg
 * LM mass: 16,428 kg, ascent stage at lunar liftoff 4,951 kg
 * Earth orbits: 3 before leaving for Moon, about one on return
 * Lunar orbits: 74

Earth parking orbit

 * Perigee: 169.5 km
 * Apogee: 171.3 km
 * Inclination: 29.679°
 * Period: 87.84 min

LM-CSM docking

 * Undocked: 1971-07-30 - 18:13:16 UTC
 * Docked: 1971-08-02 - 19:10:25 UTC

EVAs

 * Scott - Stand up EVA - LM upper hatch
 * Start Stand Up EVA: 1971-07-31, 00:16:49 UTC
 * End Stand Up EVA: July 31, 00:49:56 UTC
 * Duration: 33 minutes, 07 seconds
 * Scott and Irwin - EVA 1
 * EVA 1 Start: 1971-07-31, 13:12:17 UTC
 * EVA 1 End: July 31, 19:45:59 UTC
 * Duration: 6 hours, 32 minutes, 42 seconds
 * Scott and Irwin - EVA 2
 * EVA 2 Start: 1971-08-01, 11:48:48 UTC
 * EVA 2 End: August 1, 19:01:02 UTC
 * Duration: 7 hours, 12 minutes, 14 seconds
 * Scott and Irwin - EVA 3
 * EVA 3 Start: 1971-08-02, 08:52:14 UTC
 * EVA 3 End: August 2, 13:42:04 UTC
 * Duration: 4 hours, 49 minutes, 50 seconds
 * Worden (Irwin - Stand up) - Transearth EVA 4
 * EVA 4 Start: 1971-08-05, 15:31:12 UTC
 * EVA 4 End: August 5, 16:10:19 UTC
 * Duration: 39 minutes, 07 seconds

Planning and training
Commander Dave Scott during geology training in New Mexico on March 19, 1971.The crew for Apollo 15 had previously served as the backup crew for Apollo 12. There had been a friendly rivalry between that prime and backup crew on that mission, with the prime being all Navy, and the backup all Air Force.

Originally Apollo 15 would have been an H mission, like Apollos 12, 13, 14. But on September 2, 1970, NASA announced it was cancelling what were to be the current incarnations of the Apollo 15 and Apollo 19 missions. To maximize the return from the remaining missions, Apollo 15 would now fly as a J mission and have the honor of carrying the first Lunar Rover.

One of the major changes in the training for 15 was the geology training. Although on previous flights the crews had been trained in field geology, for the first time 15 would make it a high priority. Scott and Irwin would train with Leon Silver, a Caltech geologist who on Earth was interested in the Precambrian. Silver had been suggested by Harrison Schmitt as an alternative to the classroom lecturers that NASA had previously used. Among other things, Silver had made important refinements to the methods for dating rocks using the decay of uranium into lead in the late 1950s.

At first Silver would take the prime and backup crews to various geological sites in Arizona and New Mexico as if for a normal field geology lesson, but as launch time approached, these trips became more realistic. Crews began to wear mock-ups of the backpacks they would carry, and communicate using walkie-talkies to a CapCom in a tent. (During a mission the Capsule Communicators (CapComs), always fellow astronauts, were the only people who normally would speak to the crew). The CapCom was accompanied by a group of geologists unfamiliar with the area who would rely on the astronauts' descriptions to interpret the findings.

The decision to land at Hadley came in September 1970. The Site Selection Committees had narrowed the field down to two sites — Hadley Rille or the crater Marius, near which were a group of low, possibly volcanic, domes. Although not ultimately his decision, the commander of a mission always held great sway. To Dave Scott the choice was clear, with Hadley, being "exploration at its finest".

Command Module Pilot Al Worden undertook a different kind of geology training. Working with an Egyptian, Farouk El-Baz, he flew over areas in an airplane simulating the speed at which terrain would pass below him while in the CSM in orbit. He became quite adept at making observations as the object traveled below.

Launch and outbound trip
Apollo 15 launches on July 26, 1971.Main article: Apollo 15, Outward journeyApollo 15 launched on July 26, 1971, at 9:34 AM EDT from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. During the launch, the second stage of the Saturn V ignited when still close to the first stage, which could have caused a catastrophic event in which the exhaust of the first stage engine would have been forced back into the engine. Despite this, the rocket nominally reached an orbit around Earth a short time later. A couple of hours into the mission, the S-IVB third stage of the rocket reignited to propel the spacecraft out of Earth orbit and on to the Moon.[3]

A few days after launching from Florida, the spacecraft passed behind the far side of the Moon, where the Service Propulsion System engine on the Apollo Command/Service Module ignited for a six-minute burn to slow the craft down into an initial lunar orbit. Once the lowest point of altitude was reached in the orbit, the SPS engine was fired again to further stabilize the orbit of the Apollo CSM/Apollo Lunar Module stack and prepare for landing at Hadley.[3]

Landing
The majority of the first part of the day after arriving in lunar orbit, July 30, was spent preparing the Lunar Module for the descent to the lunar surface later on that day. After preparations were complete, un-docking from the CSM was attempted, but did not occur because of the faulty seal in the hatch mechanism. Command Module Pilot Al Worden re-sealed the hatch and the LM then successfully separated from the CSM. Dave Scott and Jim Irwin continued preparations for the descent while Al Worden remained in the CSM, returning to a higher orbit to perform lunar observations and await their return a few days later.[4] [ALSJ 1]

Soon thereafter, Scott and Irwin began the descent to the Hadley landing site on the surface. Several minutes after descent was initiated, at pitch-over and the beginning of the approach phase of the landing, the LM was six kilometers east of the pre-selected landing target. Upon learning of this, Scott altered the flight path of the LM and touched down at 22:16:29 UTC on July 30 at Hadley, within a few hundred meters of the planned landing site. While previous crews had exited the Lunar Module shortly after landing, the crew of Apollo 15 would be spending a substantially longer amount of time on the surface than previous crews. In order to preserve their sleep rhythm, the crew elected to spend the rest of the day inside the LM and wait until the next day to perform the first of three Extra-vehicular activities (EVAs), or moonwalks. Before beginning their sleep period, Scott performed a stand-up EVA, during which the LM was depressurized and the top docking hatch opened to allow him to photograph their surroundings.[4] [ALSJ 1] [ALSJ 2]

Lunar surface
Jim Irwin salutes the United States flag on the Moon on August 1, 1971.Throughout the sleep period, Mission Control in Houston monitored a slow but steady oxygen leak. The data output of the onboard telemetry computers was limited during the night to conserve energy, so controllers could not determine the exact cause of the leak without awaking the crew. Scott and Irwin were eventually awakened an hour ahead of schedule, and the source of the leak was determined to be an open valve on the Urine Transfer Device. After the problem was resolved, the crew began preparations for the first moonwalk.[ALSJ 3]

Four hours after ending their sleep period and the preparations for the moonwalk were complete, Scott and Irwin became the seventh and eighth humans to walk on the Moon, respectively. After unloading the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), the two drove to the first moonwalk's primary destination, Elbow crater along the edge of Hadley Rille. Upon returning to the LM Falcon, Scott and Irwin deployed the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP). The first EVA ended after about 6½ hours outside the LM.[4] [ALSJ 4]

The target of the second EVA the next day was the edge of Mount Hadley Delta. There, the pair sampled boulders and craters along the Apennine Front. During this moonwalk, the astronauts recovered what came to be one of the most famous lunar samples collected on the Moon during Apollo, sample #15415, more commonly known as the "Genesis Rock". Once back at the landing site, Scott continued to attempt to drill holes for an experiment at the ALSEP site, which he had struggled with the previous day. After conducting soil mechanics experiments and erecting a US flag, Scott and Irwin returned to the shelter of the LM. They spent 7 hours and 12 minutes outside during EVA 2.[4] [ALSJ 4]

During EVA 3, the third and final moonwalk of the mission, the crew again ventured to the edge of Hadley Rille, this time to the northwest of the immediate landing site. After returning to LM site, Scott performed an experiment with a feather and hammer to test Galileo's theory of objects in gravity fields in vacuums. To test this, he dropped the hammer and feather at the same time. Because of the vacuum present at the lunar surface, they hit the ground at the same time, confirming Galileo's hypothesis. Scott then drove the rover to a point beyond the LM to its final resting point, so the television camera on the rover could be used to observe the lunar liftoff. Scott set up a memorial nearby to the cosmonauts and astronauts who were known to have died up to that time, with a plaque bearing their names and a "Fallen Astronaut" statuette. The EVA ended after 4 hours and 50 minutes.[4] [ALSJ 4]

In total, the two astronauts spent 18½ hours outside of the LM and collected approximately 77 kg (170 lbs) of lunar samples.[ALSJ 4]

Return to Earth
Apollo 15 descends with two good parachutes into the Pacific Ocean on August 7, 1971.Main article: Apollo 15, Return to EarthAfter lifting off from the lunar surface 2 days and 18 hours after landing, the LM ascent stage rendezvoused and re-docked with the CSM with Al Worden aboard in orbit. After transferring samples and other items from the LM to the CSM, the LM was sealed off, jettisoned, and intentionally crashed into the lunar surface. After completing more observations of the Moon from orbit and releasing the sub-satellite, the three-person crew departed lunar orbit with another burn of the SPS engine.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-alfj_2-2">[3]

The next day, on the return trip to Earth, Al Worden performed a spacewalk in deep space, the first of its kind, to retrieve exposed film from the SIM bay. Later on in the day, the crew set an endurance record for Apollo program, becoming the longest Apollo spaceflight to that point.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-wordeneva_8-0">[5]

On approach to Earth the next day, August 7, the Service Module (SM) was jettisoned, and the Command Module (CM) reentered the Earth's atmosphere. Although one of the three parachutes on the CM failed to deploy properly, only two were required for a safe landing (one extra for redundancy). Upon landing in the North Pacific Ocean, the crew were recovered and taken aboard the recovery ship, the USS Okinawa after a mission lasting 12 days, 7 hours, 11 minutes, and 33 seconds.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-alfj_2-3">[3] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-astronautix_3-5">[4]

Spacecraft
Apollo 15 used Command/Service Module CSM-112, which was given the callsign Endeavour, named after the HM Bark Endeavour and Lunar Module LM-10, callsign Falcon, named after the United States Air Force Academy mascot. If Apollo 15 had flown as an H mission it would have been with CSM-111 and LM-9. That CSM was used by the Apollo Soyuz Test Project but the Lunar Module went unused and is now on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Apollo 15 SM SIM bayAfter re-entry, one of Endeavour's three main parachutes collapsed after opening. As it turned out, only two of the three parachutes were required for safe splashdown; the third was a contingency. Endeavour ultimately splashed down safely to end the mission.

Technicians at the Kennedy Space Center had many problems with the Scientific Instrument Module (SIM) bay in the Service Module. It was the first time it had flown and experienced problems from the start. Problems came from the fact the instruments were designed to operate in zero gravity, but had to be tested in the 1 g on the surface of the Earth. As such, things like the 7.5 m booms for the mass and gamma ray spectrometers could only be tested using railings that tried to mimic the space environment, and so they never worked particularly well. When the technicians tried to integrate the entire bay into the rest of the spacecraft, data streams would not synchronize, and lead investigators of the instruments would want to make last minute checks and changes. When it came time to test the operation of the gamma-ray spectrometer, it was necessary to stop every engine within 10 miles (16 km) of the test site.

On the Lunar Module, the fuel and oxidizer tanks were enlarged on both the descent and ascent stages and the engine bell on the descent stage was extended. Batteries and solar cells were added for increased electrical power. In all this increased the weight of the Lunar Module to 36,000 pounds (16,330 kilograms), 4000 pounds (1800 kg) heavier than previous models.

Endeavour is currently on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

Lunar Rover
The Lunar Roving Vehicle, or Rover, had been in development since May 1969, with the contract awarded to Boeing. It could be folded into a space 5 ft by 20 in (1.5 m by 0.5 m). Unloaded it weighed 460 lb (209 kg) and when carrying two astronauts and their equipment, 1500 lb (700 kg). Each wheel was independently driven by a ¼ horsepower (200 W) electric motor. Although it could be driven by either astronaut, the Commander always drove. Travelling at speeds up to 6 to 8 mph (10 to 12 km/h), it meant that for the first time the astronauts could travel far afield from their lander and still have enough time to do some scientific experiments.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-presskit_9-0">[6]

Lunar subsatellite
Artist's conception of subsatellite deploymentThe Apollo 15 subsatellite (PFS-1) was a small satellite released into lunar orbit from the SIM bay. Its main objectives were to study the plasma, particle, and magnetic field environment of the Moon and map the lunar gravity field. Specifically, it measured plasma and energetic particle intensities and vector magnetic fields, and facilitated tracking of the satellite velocity to high precision. A basic requirement was that the satellite acquire fields and particle data everywhere on the orbit around the Moon.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-presskit_9-1">[6] The Moon's roughly circular orbit about the Earth at ~380,000 km (60 Earth radii) carried the subsatellite into both interplanetary space and various regions of the Earth's magnetosphere. The satellite orbited the Moon and returned data from August 4, 1971 until January 1973.

Releasing the subsatellite was the crew's final activity in lunar orbit, occurring an hour before the burn to take them back to Earth. A virtually identical subsatellite was deployed by Apollo 16.

Launch vehicle
The Saturn V that launched Apollo 15 was designated SA-510, the tenth flight-ready model of the rocket. As the payload of the rocket was greater, changes were made to its launch trajectory and Saturn V itself. The rocket was launched in a more southerly direction (80–100 degrees azimuth) and the Earth parking orbit lowered to 166 km (90 nautical miles) above the Earth's surface. These two changes meant 1100 pounds (500 kg) more could be launched. The propellant reserves were reduced and the number of retrorockets on the S-IC first stage reduced from eight to four. The four outboard engines of the S-IC would be burned longer and the center engine would also burn longer before being shut down (see Saturn V for more information on the launch sequence). Changes were also made to the S-II second stage to stop pogo oscillations.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-presskit_9-2">[6]

Once all the various components had been installed on the Saturn V, it was moved to the launch site, Launch Complex 39A. During late June and early July 1971, the rocket and Mobile Service Structure were struck by lightning at least four times. All was well however, with only minor damage suffered.

Space suits
The astronauts themselves wore new spacesuits. On all previous Apollo flights, including the non-lunar flights, the commander and lunar module pilot had worn suits with the life support, liquid cooling, and communications connections in two parallel rows of three. On Apollo 15, the new suits, dubbed the "A7L-B," had the connectors situated in triangular pairs. This new arrangement, along with the relocation of the entry zipper (which went in an up-down motion on the old suits), from the right shoulder to the left hip, allowed the inclusion of a new waist joint, allowing the astronauts to bend completely over, and even to sit on the rover. Upgraded backpacks allowed for longer-duration moonwalks, and the command module pilot, who wore a suit with three connectors, would wear a five-connector version of the old moon suit — the liquid cooling water connector being removed, as the command module pilot would make a "deep-space EVA" to retrieve film cartridges on the flight home.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-presskit_9-3">[6]

Scandals
Dave Scott's space suit on display at the NASM.Robbins Medallion from Apollo 15After a highly successful mission, the reputation of the crew and NASA was tarnished somewhat by a deal they made with a German stamp dealer.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10">[7] H. Walter Eiermann, an who had many professional and social contacts with NASA employees and the astronaut corps, arranged for Scott to carry unauthorized commemorative postal covers in his spacesuit. Eiermann had promised each astronaut US$7,000 in the form of savings accounts in return for 100 covers signed after having returned from the Moon. He told them that he would not advertise or sell the covers until the end of the Apollo program. Irwin wrote in his book To Rule the Night that the astronauts had agreed to the deal as a way to help finance their children's college tuition.

One final controversial event happened after the flight. The crew had contacted Belgian sculptor Paul Van Hoeydonck to create a small statuette to personally commemorate those astronauts and cosmonauts having lost their lives in the furtherance of space exploration. The small aluminum sculpture called "Fallen Astronaut" was left on the Moon next to the Rover at the end of EVA 3, along with a plaque bearing the names of 14 American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts. Unknown at the time, two of the original selection of 20 cosmonauts were also deceased before Apollo 15: Valentin Bondarenko (fire during training, March 1961) and Grigori Nelyubov (train accident/suicide, February 1966).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Apollo_Lunar_Surface_Journal_11-0">[8] Therefore, their names were not included on the plaque. The memorial was left while the TV camera was turned off. Only Irwin knew what Scott was doing at the time. Scott told mission control he was doing some clean up activities around the rover so they wouldn't know what he was doing. They had agreed with Van Hoeydonck that no replicas were to be made. After mentioning the statuette during their post-flight press conference, the National Air and Space Museum contacted the crew asking for a replica made for the museum, and Van Hoeydonck subsequently advertised replicas for sale to the public. Under pressure from NASA, Van Hoeydonck withdrew the sale offer. NASA ultimately showed the monument on its Apollo 15 mission documentary, with no mention that it was unauthorized.

Mission insignia
The circular patch features stylized red, white and blue birds flying over the Hadley Rille section of the moon. Immediately behind the birds, a line of craters form the Roman numeral XV. The artwork is circled in red, with a white band giving the mission and crew names and a blue border. Scott contacted fashion designer Emilio Pucci to design the patch, who came up with the basic idea of the three-bird motif. The crew changed the colors from blues and greens to more patriotic red, white and blue.

Visibility from space
The halo area of the Apollo 15 Landing site, generated by the LM's exhaust plume, was observed by a camera aboard the Japanese lunar orbiter SELENE and confirmed by comparative analysis of photographs in May 2008. This corresponds well to photographs taken from the Apollo 15 Command Module showing a change in surface reflectivity due to the plume, and was the first visible trace of manned landings on the moon seen from space since the close of the Apollo program.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-12">[9] This evidence is important due to accusations that the moon landings were staged.

Depiction in popular culture
Portions of the Apollo 15 mission are dramatized in the miniseries From the Earth to the Moon episode entitled "Galileo was Right".

Apollo Lunar Surface Journal

 * 1) ^ a b "Landing at Hadley". Apollo Lunar Surface Journal. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
 * 2) ^ "Stand-Up EVA". Apollo Lunar Surface Journal. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
 * 3) ^ "Wake-up for EVA-1". Apollo Lunar Surface Journal. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
 * 4) ^ a b c d "Apollo 15 Mission Summary". Apollo Lunar Surface Journal. Retrieved 14 July 2011.