farouk el baz (bellcomm) - lo5 potential aap lunar landing site selection (1967)

8/8/2019 Farouk El Baz (BellComm) - LO5 Potential AAP Lunar Landing Site Selection (1967)

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A Reproduced CopyOF

(NASa-CR-87454) L U N A R O33ZTER RISSION V - N79-73429POTENTIAL A A P L A N D I N G S I T E S (Bellcontm, Inc.)19 P Unclas00/91 12922~-

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BELLCOMM.NC.1100 Seventeenth Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036SUBJECT: Lunar O r b i t e r Mission V:P o t e n t i a l AAP Landing S i t e sCase 2 3 2

DATE: J u ly 26, 1 9 6 7FROM: Farouk El-Baz

ABSTRACT

S i x t e e n s i t e s , c o n c e n t r a t e d ma in ly i n t h e n o r t h e r nh a l f of t h e l u n a r f r o n t f ac e , c o n s t i t u t e t h e p o t e n t i a l AAPl an d in g s i t e s p r op o sed f o r Lu na r O r b i t e r Mission V. Two s i t e sf a l l wit h in c r a t e r s (Copern icus and Alphonsus ). The r e s t , how-e v e r , a r e a t l e a s t p a r t l y i n mare mater ia l o r mare-l ike b l a n k e t s ,e s p e c i a l l y a t o r n e a r c o n t a ct s w i t h h i g h l a n d t e r r a i n s .S p e c i f i c p o i n ts o f i n t e r e s t i n th e s e s i t e s a reshown on reproductions of Mission I V photographs . T h i s i s done

to a l low a c l e a r r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of t h e g e n e r a l c h a r a c t e r o f t h es i t e s , a lb ed o v a r i a t i o n s , a pp ro ac h p a t h s , l a n d i n g p o i n t s andp r i o r i t i e s a m o n g t h e p o i n t s o f i n t e r e s t t he ms el ve s.good v a r i e t y o f l u n a r s u r f a c e u n i t s and s t r u c t u r a l f e a t u r e sd i r e c t l y o r i n d i r e c t l y r e l a t e d to major s c i e n t i f i c q u e s t i o nsconcern ing t h e moon. T h i s r e p o r t s h o u l d b e of use du r in g t h em i s si o n a nd o f v a l u e i n f u t u r e p l a n n in g o f AAP manned landingm is s io n s .

It i s concluded t h a t t h e 1 6 s i t e s r e p r e s e n t a

M


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SUBJECT: Lunar O r b i t e r Mission V: DATE: July 26, 1967P o t e n t i a l AAP Landing S i t e sCase 232 FROM: Farouk El-Baz

MEMORANDUM FOR FILE

I . INTRODUCTIONThe Lunar O r b i t e r P r o j e c t O f f i c e has approved, w i t hm inor m od i f i c a t ions , t h e Miss ion V P lan s ubm i t t ed by t h e Miss ion VPlanning Group and Subgroup on June 14, 1967 . " Fol lowing i s ad e s c r i p t i o n o f t h o s e s i t e s cons ide r ed a t p r e se n t t o be p o t e n t i a l

AAP l a n d i n g s i t e s .11. LOCATION

A s i t s t a n d s , t h e Mis s ion P lan inc ludes 16 s i t e st o b e cons idered as p o t e n t i a l AAP l a n d i n g s i t e s . F igur e 1 i san in dex map o f t h e i r l o c a t i o n . F o r e a ch s i t e a s e r i a l numberi s given fo l lowed by t h e p h o t og r a ph i c o r b i t n umber. The mapi n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e s e s i t e s a re d i s t r i b u t e d as f o l l o w s :

P o r t i o n o f l u n a r f r o n t f a c e No of S i t e sUpper l e f t q u a r t e r o f moon 8Upper r i g h t q u a r t e r of moon 6Lower r i g h t q u a r t e r of moon 0Lower l e f t q u a r t e r o f moon 2

T o t a l 1 6What appea r s t o b e a b i a s f o r t h e upper h a l f oft h e l u n a r f r o n t f a c e i s a c t u a l l y due t o t h e f o l low ing :

1. A r e l a t i v e l y f l a t , smooth sur face i s c o n s i d e r e d , a tp r e s e n t , a pr im e r equ i r em en t f o r AAP. T h i s meanst h a t t h e appr oach pa t hs and l and ing po in t s ought t ob e m ain ly i n maria and/or mare-like blanke ts . About7 0 % o f t h e maria on t h e l u n a r f r o n t f a c e f a l l w i t h i nt h e upper h a l f of t h e moon.

"Surveyor O r b i t e r U t i l i z a t i o n Commit tee Minutes , June 1 4 , 1967


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2 . S c i e n t i f i c a l l y r i c h p or t io n s o f t h e maria a re t h o s ea t or c l o s e to c o n t a c t s w i t h h i gh l an d t e r r a i n . J u dq i ngfrom t h e above-mentioned f a c t , a l o n g e r s t r i p of t h e s ec o n t a c t s i s found i n t h e u p pe r h a l f o f t h e moon's nears i d e .

3. O r b i t a l c o n f l i c t s w i t h Apollo s i t e s , f i l m budgeta nd o t h e r c o n s t r a i n t s have a l s o p l a y e d a r o l e i nl i m i t i n g t h e number o f po t e n t i a l AAP l a n d i n g s i t e si n a s p e c i f i c area .111. PHOTOGRAP'HIC COVERAGE

E l e v e n s i t e s a r e to be photographed by a s e t offas t -4 frames.% The r e s t c o n s t i t u t e t h r e e g ro ups :A . Fas t -8 s e t s a r e p lanned f o r two c ase s where con t inuouscoverage of a l a r g e a rea seemed demanding. Thesea r e Copernicus (11/63) and Marius H i l l s (16/83).B . Slow-4*% s e t s were p r e f e r r e d o v e r fas t -4 s e t s i n areaswhere cont inuous coverage i s n o t as c r i t i c a l as t h ee x t e n t of t h e a reas to be covered (Hadley R i l l e , 6 / 50and Copern icus Secondar ies , 10/61).C . One frame w a s a l low ed i n t h e cas e of Copern icus CD s i t e( 8 / 5 9 ) . I t i s a p a r t i c u l a r c a s e . The one frame coveragew ou ld , u n de r u s u a l c i r cu m s tan ces , ex c lu d e th e s i t e fromt h e l i s t o f p o t e n t i a l AA P l a n d i n g s i t e s , due to t h el a c k o f s t e r e o photograhy. However, it w a s f e l t t h a tt h e s i t e p o s s e ss e s u ni qu e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s and t h e r e f o r eshou ld b e k ep t i n as a p o t e n t i a l l a nd i ng s i t e . T h i si s a l s o s u pp o rt e d by t h e f a c t t h a t a g o o d ?o r t i o n o ft h e i n f o r m a t io n ab o u t i t would b e conveyed by t h e oneframe.

I V . CHARACTERISTICSIt i s b e l i e v e d t h a t a t h o r o u g h d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h es e l e c t e d s i t e s cou ld on ly b e g iv en u s in g p h o to g r ap h s . T h i s way,

t h e reader becomes much more f a m i l i a r w i t h t h e g e n e r a l c h a r a c t e rof t h e s i t e as w e l l as t h e parameters to b e c on si de re d i n s e l e c t i n gs p e c i f i c p o i n t s o f i n t e r e s t . I n a d d i t i o n , p r e s e nt i n g t h e phot o-g raphs may s e r v e as a cross check o f t h e i n f o r m a t io n d u r in g mored e t a i l e d examina t ions of th e s i t e s .

% i . e . f o u r frames t h e h ig h r e s o lu t i o n p ho to gr ap hy co n t ig uo u s .% * i . e . f o u r frames t h e l ow r e s o lu t i o n ph otog raph y co n t ig u o u s .


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For t h i s r eason Lunar O r b i t e r I V Photog raphs were usedi n d e sc r i bi n g t h e s i t e s . F i g u r e s 3 t h r o u g h 1 0 .F i g u r e 2 s e r v e s as a key to t h e method u s ed i n p r ep a r i n g

F i g u r e s 3-10. An approach p a t h of about 1 0 km i s i n d i c a t e d asan east-west l i n e i n each s i t e . T h i s l i n e S er ve s a l s o as as c a l e . A s u g g e st e d l a n d i n g p o i n t i s r e p r e se n t e d i n e a ch s i t eby an "x " a t t h e l e f t end of t h e a pp ro ac h p a t h . S p e c i f i c p o i n t so f s c i e n t i f i c i n t e r e s t are marked by numbers (1,2,3, e t c . )i n o r de r o f d ec re a si ng p r i o r i t y .It must be s t a t e d however t h a t no u n i v e r s a l a g r e e -ment e x i s t s co n ce r n in g t h e p r e s e t n e d d a t a . What i s p r o v id edc o n s t i t u t e s t h e au tho r ' s own under s tand ing o f t h e d e t a i l sw i t h i n e a c h a rea of t h e 1 6 s i t e s .F a c t o r s s u c h as approach p a t h s a nd l a n d i n g p o i n t s

a r e l i k e l y t o change a f t e r c l o s e r e x a m i na t i on o f t h e s i t e sf o l lo w in g t h e Mission . The s p e c i f i c p o i n t s o f i n t e r e s t i n eac hs i t e and t h e i r p r i o r i t y l i s t s a re g iv en f o r us e p r i o r to t h eMission . They may o r may not change when Mission V photographsa r e s t u d i ed i n t h e f u t u r e .F i g u r e 11 i s a summary de s c r i p t i o n of t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c so f t h e i n d i v id u a l s i t e s w i t h s p ec i a l em ph as is o n t h e g e o l o g i c a lv iewpo in t . T h i s i s supplemented by Fig ur e 1 2 , w h i c h r e p r e s e n t sa cumulat ive g r a p h of t h e f re qu en c y o f l u n a r s u r f a c e u n i t s a nds t r u c t u r a l f e a t u re s i n t h e 1 6 s i t e s . Both f i g u r e s s ho ul d b e o fv a l u e i n :

1. Real -t ime p lann i ng o f a non-nominal m is si on i n caseof need to s e l e c t r ep la c em e nt s s i t e s .2 . F ut ur e s e l e c t i o n o f s i t e s f o r a c t u a l AAP manned landingm is s io n s .

From t h e tw o f ig u r e s i t i s c l e a r t h a t c e r t a i n f e a t u r e sof t h e l u n a r s u r f a c e a re n o t r e p r e se n t e d i n t h e 1 6 s i t e s . F o rexample t h e r e i s no coverage of p i t t e d h i g h l a n d p l a i n s , a c r a t e rp a i r , areas s howi ng c l e a r i n d i c a t l o n s o f e r o s i o n a nd /o r d e p o s i t i o nof mate r i a l , r a y s i n h i gh l a nd t e r r a i n s , e sc ar pm en ts w i t h p o s s i b l ee x po su re o f m a jo r s t r a t i g r a p h i c unit .;, e t c . It i s a l s o c l e a rt h a t some features a re r e p re se n t ed i n many more s i t e s t h a n o t h e r s .A s an example, t h e r e a re n i n e s i t e s which include f r e s h (young)c r a t e r s as opposed to o n l y o n e i n c i d e n c e o f g h o s t c r a t e r s .V. CONCLUSION-

I n s p i t e o f t h e v a r i o us c o n s t r a i n t s ( ma in ly o r b i t a lc o nf l i c t s anC fr*ame bud ge t ) , Miss ion V p l a n i n c l u d e s a gcodv a r i e t y of s i t e s to b e co n s id e r ed as p o t e n t i a l AAP l a n d i n g s i t e s .Th e s ix t een s i t e s s e l e c t ed f o r t h i s c o n s i d e r a t i o n p o r t r a y a w i C es pe ct ru m of l u n a r s u r f a c e f e a t u r e s and s t r u c t u r e s d i r e c t l y or


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i n d i r e c t l y c o n n e c t e d w i t h m ajor g e n e t i c p r ob lem s r e l a t e d t ot h e moon and i t s s u r f ac e f e a t u r e s . The pho tograph ic coverageof t h e s e s i t e s , as p lan n ed , s h o u ld a l l o w u s t o draw c o n c l u s i o n sa s t o t h e s i gn i f i c a nc e o f t h e areas t o b e c on si de re d i n f u t u r el u n a r e x p l o r a t i o n m i s s io n s.

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farouk el baz (bellcomm) - lo5 potential aap lunar landing site selection (1967)

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