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  • Neil Armstrong's Letter To A Reporter

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    Didie's Kay
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    1) Armstrong confirms that the NASA maps accurately portray their pathways and trajectories during the lunar surface exploration missions. 2) The plans for the lunar surface activities were widely distributed and even rehearsed for the press, so many people knew the details of what was planned. 3) However, they had to plan cautiously due to many uncertainties about how well their equipment would function in the hostile lunar environment, and wanted to stay in range of the television camera to help plan future missions.

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    Apollo 11 (Text 1)

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    1) Armstrong confirms that the NASA maps accurately portray their pathways and trajectories during the lunar surface exploration missions. 2) The plans for the lunar surface activities were widely distributed and even rehearsed for the press, so many people knew the details of what was planned. 3) However, they had to plan cautiously due to many uncertainties about how well their equipment would function in the hostile lunar environment, and wanted to stay in range of the television camera to help plan future missions.

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    39 views2 pages

    Neil Armstrong's Letter To A Reporter

    Uploaded by

    Didie's Kay
    1) Armstrong confirms that the NASA maps accurately portray their pathways and trajectories during the lunar surface exploration missions. 2) The plans for the lunar surface activities were widely distributed and even rehearsed for the press, so many people knew the details of what was planned. 3) However, they had to plan cautiously due to many uncertainties about how well their equipment would function in the hostile lunar environment, and wanted to stay in range of the television camera to help plan future missions.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    Neil Armstrong’s Letter to a Reporter

    Dear Mr. Krulwich

    I was delighted to read your December 7 column on the the Apollo 11 lunar surface
    traverses, The NASA maps do accurately portray the locations of the pathways used to
    complete the myriad of tasks we were assigned. And, although I have not checked, I believe
    the comparison with the size of athletic fields is reasonably accurate.

    You asked: "Who knew?"

    The answer to that question is: Just about anyone who had any interest in learning the
    answer. The plan for the lunar surface work was widely distributed and we even did a full
    dress rehearsal for the press at the NASA Johnson Space Center.

    It is true that we were cautious in our planning. There were many uncertainties about how
    well our Lunar module systems and our Pressure suit and backpack would match the
    engineering predictions in the hostile lunar environment. We were operating in a near perfect
    vacuum with the temperature well above 200 degrees Fahrenheit with the local gravity only
    one sixth that of Earth. That combination cannot be duplicated here on Earth, but we tried as
    best we could to test our equipment for those conditions. For example, because normal air
    conditioning is inadequate for lunar conditions, we were required to use cold water to cool
    the interior of our suits. We did not have any data to tell us how long the small water tank in
    our backpacks would suffice. NASA officials limited our surface working time to 2 and 3/4
    hours on that first surface exploration to assure that we would not expire of hyperthermia.
    After returning to and repressurizing the Lunar Module, we were able to drain and measure
    the remaining water in the backpacks to confirm the predicted.

    There was great uncertainty about how well we would be able to walk in our cumbersome
    pressurized suit. My colleague demonstrated a variety of techniques in view of the television
    camera that I had installed in a position predetermined to be in the optimum spot for
    coverage of all of our activities. Preflight planners wanted us to stay in TV range so that they
    could learn from our results how they could best plan for future missions. I candidly admit
    that I knowingly and deliberately left the planned working area out of TV coverage to
    examine and photograph the interior crater walls for possible bedrock exposure or other
    useful information. I felt the potential gain was worth the risk.

    It is true that we would have liked to stay on the surface longer and traveled further away
    from the Lunar Module and the television camera. But we had a number of experiments to
    install, samples to document and collect, and photographs to take. The time available was
    fully allocated and we were working diligently to complete our assigned tasks. The Lunar
    Laser Ranging Retroreflector we installed is still in use today in a variety of scientific
    experiments.

    Later Apollo flights were able to do more and move further in order to cover larger areas,
    particularly when the Lunar Rover vehicle became available in 1971. But in KRULWICH
    WONDERS, you make an important point, which I emphasized to the House Science and
    Technology Committee. During my testimony in May I said, "Some question why Americans
    should return to the Moon. "After all," they say "we have already been there." I find that
    mystifying. It would be as if 16th century monarchs proclaimed that "we need not go to the
    New World, we have already been there." Or as if President Thomas Jefferson announced in
    1803 that Americans "need not go west of the Mississippi, the Lewis and Clark Expedition
    has already been there." Americans have visited and examined 6 locations on Luna, varying
    in size from a suburban lot to a small township. That leaves more than 14 million square
    miles yet to explore.

    I have tried to give a small insight into your question "Who knew?"

    I hope it is helpful.

    Sincerely,
    Neil Armstrong
    Commander
    Apollo 11

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