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Subject: Preserving Tranquility Base
Time: 7:26:00 AM EDT
Author: stuartatk
WELCOME TO CARNIVAL OF SPACE READERS!!
Isn't it weird how some things just come together?
Last night I was browsing the forum on unmannedspaceflight.com - as I do, oh, once or twice an hour! - and found that the discussion about the Google Lunar X-Prize and the need to preserve the Apollo 11 landing site (indeed, all the Apollo landing sites) had started up again. I thought I should write something about it here, because it's something I feel very strongly, even passionately about. But I didn't want to just launch into full "Stu rant" mode; I wanted to find a side way into the topic.
And I found it, when I went to the wonderful moonpans.com website.
For those people unfamiliar with the website, it features stunning panoramas of all the Apollo landing sites, for download and sale. Looking at the site this time I found that Mike Constantine, the guy behind the site and the photo creations, had "found" a new image of Neil Armstrong on the Moon. I was fascinated and intrigued! After all, it's common knowledge that there are just two or three images from the Apollo 11 mission that are KNOWN to show Neil Armstrong on the lunar surface, thanks to a combination of (in my opinion) bad planning at NASA, in not insisting that Buzz Aldrin carefully record Armstrong's activities, and also - many people believe - Buzz's inability to take images of Armstrong, thanks to having a painful nose, that nose having been put out of joint by the fact that Armstrong, and not he, was first down the ladder...
Anyway, back to the picture. When I read on, I learned that what Mike had done - and this is such a face-slappingly obvious idea I'm amazed it hasn't occurred to anyone before... I wish I'd thought of it! - was to take the classic image of Aldrin standing on the Moon, zoom in on his visor and enlarge, clarify and correct the image of Armstrong's reflection seen upon it...
Genius! Absolute genius! Here it is, reproduced with Mike's generous permission...
Now, that image isn't going to win any photographic awards, but it is a picture of the First Man On The Moon, and as such isbeyond precious. Thanks Mike for letting me show it here.
... but what has this got to do with the Google Lunar X-Prize? I was coming to that.
Just in case you don't know what this competition is, here's the synopsis from the site...
The Google Lunar X PRIZE is a $30 million international competition to safely land a robot on the surface of the Moon, travel 500 meters over the lunar surface, and send images and data back to the Earth. Teams must be at least 90% privately funded and must be registered to compete by December 31, 2010. The first team to land on the Moon and complete the mission objectives will be awarded $20 million; the full first prize is available until December 31, 2012. After that date, the first prize will drop to $15 million. The second team to do so will be awarded $5 million. Another $5 million will awarded in bonus prizes. The final deadline for winning the prize is December 31, 2014
COMPETITION GUIDELINES: To win the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a team must successfully land a privately funded craft on the lunar surface and survive long enough to complete the mission goals of roaming about the lunar surface for at least 500 meters and sending a defined data package, called a “Mooncast”, back to Earth.
So far so good. I mean, what could be wrong with that? How exciting! Private companies... universities... schools... nerds in garages... coming together to design, build, launch and land rover-bots on the Moon! How could anyone be against such an inspiring venture? Well, not me. I'm not against the venture, the competition, or the idea of sending private robots to the Moon. But contained in the competition guidelines is this section which set alarm bells ringing with me, and many other people too...
• BONUSES: An additional $5 million in bonus prizes can be won by successfully completing additional mission tasks such as roving longer distances (> 5,000 meters), imaging man made artifacts (e.g. Apollo hardware), discovering water ice, and/or surviving through a frigid lunar night (approximately 14.5 Earth days). The competing lunar spacecraft will be equipped with high-definition video and still cameras, and will send images and data to Earth, which the public will be able to view on the Google Lunar X PRIZE website.
Ah. Two key words there: APOLLO HARDWARE. They are encouraging the Teams to land rovers near the Apollo landing sites, trundle over to them, and explore them. This will inevitably lead to these historic sites - such as the one seen on the new Moonpans.com image of Neil Armstrong - being disturbed, and I think that would be wrong.
As an Outreach Educator here in the UK, and a lifelong spaceflight enthusiast and advocate, preserving the historic nature and integrity of the Apollo landing sites really is something I feel strongly about, and I am convinced it is an issue that the Google people will need to sort out before hardware starts landing. I’m sure they’re already thinking about it, but I think they need to be aware of just how important an issue this is - and what a responsibility they have.
Of course, there's no "virgin site" to preserve, no "first footprint" to protect. Armstrong's "first footprint" as probably obliterated by Armstrong himself as he hopped around the foot of the ladder, and if not by him than by Aldrin when he descended to the surface. And it's well known that when the Eagle ascent stage lifted off from the Moon at the end of Armstrong and Aldrin's all-too-brief stay, the blast from its rocket engine toppled the Stars and Stripes flag, scattered dust in all directions and made a real mess of things. But that doesn't matter. The site should be preserved AS IT WAS LEFT at the end of the mission.
Some people might think it would be no big deal if Apollo footprints and rover tracks were disturbed by Google rovers. I disagree. These are important and historic sites, and need to be preserved for as long as possible. There will almost certainly come a day when these landing sites are visited, for genuine and scientifically sound reasons (to see how material there has been affected by long exposure to the lunar environment perhaps?), but those visits should be made by people, not robots. The only visitors allowed near to these "Apollo Heritage" sites should be trained professional astronauts who are fully aware of the significance of the sites and the hardware at them, who will make every effort to respect the sites and do as little damage to them as possible. I honestly shudder at the thought of little rovers scudding and scuffing around in the shadows of the lunar landers, obliterating the astronauts' footprints and kicking up dust everywhere.
And if that sounds a bit "rock huggy" and sentimental, or over-romantic, then fine, hands up, guilty as charged,because I seriously believe that a thousand years from now, when there are people living on Mars, Enceladus, Europa, Titan and planets orbiting other stars too perhaps, those people will look back at us, through the wrong end of the telescope of time, and will either praise us for preserving and protecting some of the most significant and - I hesitate to use the word, but I will - sacred sites in human history, or think us pitiful for allowing them to be ruined.
Some people say that with so many thousands – if not tens of thousands – of exciting places to visit on the Moon, i.e. natural features, then the Apollo sites aren’t that special. I can kind of see the sense in that. I can imagine standing in the shadow of the Straight Wall and watching blazing sunlight slide down it as dawn breaks, or gazing across Copernicus crater from its rim, marvelling at the mountains looming up from its centre... but the Apollo 11 landing site is unique in the history of mankind as being the place where human beings first set foot on another world. Buit when people say that the Apollo sites don’t deserve any special treatment, I think they’re wrong. I think Tranquility Base is – and will remain – absolutely unique in human history. In the future there'll be similar "First Landing" sites on Mars, Europa, Proxima Centauri B1 or whatever, and a thousand other worlds, but there'll only ever be one "Tranquility Base", where visitors will be able to see the actual spacecraft that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin flew from Earth to the Moon… and the carefully preserved footprints of the first human being in history to walk on another planet..!
I’m not suggesting for a moment that the Moon shouldn't be explored or built on; I’m just saying that in the particular case of these rovers, they shouldn't be allowed to disturb, more than absolutely necessary, the Apollo landing sites, which are scientifically, historically and culturallysignificant. Think of it this way: if someone suggested to you removing all the barriers and guard rails in the Smithsonian to allow people to run their grubby, scratching hands all over the Kitty Hawk Flyer, damaging it, would that be acceptable?
If someone suggested allowing ice-cream and Coke-stained kids to climb over the preserved bodies in the ruins of Pompeii, would that be acceptable?
No. It wouldn't be acceptable to go pull pieces off, or spray graffitti onto, Scott's Antarctic hut either, would it?
...or hack a piece out of the Liberty Bell?
...or spray paint an advertising message on the side of what's left of the Titanic? Or let dogs wander around and squat into those preserved early human footprints in Africa?
Of course not. There'd be absolute hell on if anyone suggested any of those things. So I can't imagine why anyone would be happy to sit back and see the Apollo landing sites - the sites of Man's first landing on another world - ruined either.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying "Ban the rovers!" I think the Google rovers project is a fantastic idea, an excellent idea, with enormous potential to inspire a lot of people, especially kids, and I’m sure that as an Outreach educator I can “use” the project to inspire kids about lunar exploration in particular and space exploration in general. I'm also sure that a successful rover landing NEAR theApollo landing sites would provide excellent publicity for NASA, and help make the Moon an exciting, inspiring and REAL destination in people's minds. But personally I'd be gutted if any of the rovers were allowed to tear around an Apollo landing site like the General Lee. There's no scientific benefit to be gained from that, no reason why any of the rover teams has to drive close to any of the LEMs, not with the high-magnification, high-definition cameras available today. They could keep a respectful distance and still take fantastic pictures that would be stunning.
Here's my idea: land nearby, drive a bit closer, take your pictures of the LEM descent stage and rovers and flags from a respectable distance, get a killer front page shot of Earth shining above an Apollo landing site,then go look at new stuff, show us exciting landscapes and scenes we haven't seen before. It's not rocket science. Oh, okay, it is rocket science, but it's common sense too...
The Lunar Google rovers could - if handled properly, and operated with dignity and respect - be the catalyst for a revival of interest in "space" amongst kids, as long as we make it clear that they are precursors to manned expeditions, not substitutes for them. There's a lot of scientific potential with them - studies of rocks and minerals - as well as the potential for great Outreach imagery too. I worry that there'll be too much emphasis placed on imaging Apollo sites simply because of the financial rewards such images could bring. As others have said to me, there's a lot more Moon to see up there!
If the goal simply becomes Land, Take Apollo Hardware Picture, Count the Money, well, the whole thing will be a waste of time. But if Google Rovers do more, if they take amazing images of other sites, if they return useful scientific data, if they flood the media with lunar images, then they really could make a difference, and hasten the return of Man to the Moon – and not just Man’s machines.
But is all this a lot of fuss over nothing? Are any of the teams actually planning on visiting Apollo sites? Well, one of them definitely is, and in such a way that affecting - spoiling - the integrity of the Apollo 11 landing site, the famous Tranquility Base, would be inevitable.
In its very inspiring and professional YouTube presentation on the Google Lunar X-Prize site, the ASTROBOTIC team declare that they'll make a precision landing close to the Apollo 11 site, after which their rover will drive to the site, eventually seeing "Apollo 11 on the horizon". After that the rover will "see the American flag, or what remains of it... the footprints of the astronauts...up close, the plaque..."
Now, I'm no rocket scientist or space expert, but even I can figure out that for their rover to get "up close" to the plaque on the landing leg of Eagle's descent stage they will have to go over and through footprints. That means they will be changing the very nature of the site, scuffing their way through traces of history that could never, ever be replaced, and would then be lost forever.
That can't be right, surely? What kind of "inspiring message" would that send to the kids watching back home? "History doesn't matter"? "It's okay to trample over the past kids, if it means a fat cheque in your bank account after!"?
I know it's early days for this competition yet, and a lot of rules, guidelines and restrictions need to be set in place, and I'm not suggesting for a moment that the competition organisers don't care about this issue, but Ithink now is the time to raise these concerns and try to ensure the Apollo landing sites are preserved and protected for future generations to see, celebrate and honour.
Discuss..!
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It's nearly forty years since footprints were left at Tranquility Base, and in those 500+ lunar days the soil has regularly cycled through temperatures from +100C to -150C and back again. This process causes the near-surface regolith to get "turned over" over timespans of a few hundred years - so, while, I suspect the prints are still there, they are starting to loose their crisp outlines.
But - given the range of the Apollo 11 astronauts, who could have fitted their walks in an area smaller than a football pitch - there would be no difficulty in photographing and documenting this historic site without coming too close to disrupt any further the first prints of humanity on the Moon. The Google Prize and our heritage could both win.
Andy -
I have always wondered about the lack of photographs of Armstrong, despite the explanations given. Once thing certain is that Armstrong does not like publicity. I wouldn't put it past him to have asked Aldrin not to take his picture.
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I can't believe there is even a discussion. I mean come on! History on another planet not preserved? Sometimes I wonder about people. Respect history. But take pictures!! Tammy
5/25/08 4:46 PM
Eric Paul Brunner