BOOT-PRINTS TO THE MOON –A FIELD GEOLOGIST'S TALES OF STEPS TO THE APOLLO 11 LANDING

For many decades Wally Bothner has left a trail of dirty but significant bootprints over much of the Northern Appalachians. During part of that long history, a different kind of traverse was planned and executed, one that left bootprints on a more distant landscape. Even though ticks, cactus, and poison ivy were judged to be minimal risks on the moon, other field geology considerations were deemed important. It was my privilege to see and participate in some of these steps. These began in 1953 as TA for a Caltech lab during which future astronaut Jack Schmitt water-bombed the campus cop. Through much of the 1960’s Harry Hess chaired the National Academy’s Space Science Board advising NASA on all things Apollo. At first the board consisted mostly of engineers, astronomers, geophysicists, geochemists, and the like, few of whom knew what real geologic field work was like. In 1964 Hess asked me to become a member to add a bit of field experience. Deliberations included everything from preliminary geologic maps, earth analogs, payloads, landing sites, astronauts, etc. Among the decisions was an army proposal for a thermite bomb impact spectrum of lunar dust (rejected) to debate on targeting the last Orbiter for one more set of close-ups of landing sites or doing a complete reconnaissance of the moon, the more general overview that most field and other geologists need. By one vote, field geology won; otherwise good resolution images of the entire moon probably would have awaited a quarter century. In 1968, I took the temporary position of chief scientist and deputy director of a small NASA office with the acronym MAL (Manned Apollo Landing, although the Spanish translation sometimes seemed more appropriate). Its mission was to link the science and engineering halves of NASA, a task that allowed us to attend daily briefings of ongoing Apollo problems during the final year before the landing and participate in some of the solutions. Memorable was the night of Apollo 11’s landing when a small group of us in Houston tried desperately to locate the exact position on lunar images among six possibilities (none correct) to plan the astronauts’ traverse route a few hours later. At this session I will present a few of these personal tales along the path that led, not to Wally Bothner’s New England, but to the first extra-terrestrial geologic traverse.