European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 9, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Unlocking the secrets of the Moon "  "/., �    by Howard Benedict a staff writer to or centuries Man gazed at the it Moon and wondered about this mysterious heavenly body that constantly changed in appearance in its nightly treks across the sky. Ancient Peoples constructed myth Sand legends to explain its origin. Pagans worshipped it. Dogs howled at it. Poet addressed it. Scientists disagreed about it. Some said it was covered with water. Others said it was Quicksand deep dust hard Rock lava even Green cheese. Suddenly in just four years unmanned rocket probes have ripped away much of the lunar secrecy. Now Man knows More about parts of the lunar surface than he does about Many place son his own Earth. Above All else the Moon vehicle proved that the Moon is a Safe place for Man to visit. So american Astro nauts soon will Challenge this alluring first Frontier in Man s exploration of space and will learn even More about Bis celestial next door neighbor. When they Plant their boots in the Dusty lunar soil possibly next year they will find it a most inhospitable place a scene of desolation More com plete than any Sahara s. They will Bein a Bleak Barren wasteland that is both lifeless and airless baked by Dayan Frozen by night in temperatures that Range from 250 degrees above to250 degrees below Zero. There is no atmosphere no wind storms Clouds or water. During the last four years Liun manned american spacecraft have either if the Moon orbited u or landed softly on it. Eight soviet Moon Craft also have been successful but Ameri can experts report they have provided Only negligible information in compari son with the More sophisticated . Machines. The american vehicles have sent Back More than 102,000 pictures while the russian Craft have produced Only 150, mostly crude. The american goal is to land women on the surface in this decade. If the Apollo program continues at it present Forward Pace they la be there by the summer of 1969. The feeling among competent Amer ican observers is that russian Cosmo nauts can t make it before 1970, Al though there is a Good possibility that a soviet Crew will Fly around the Moon and return to the Earth late this year or Early next. Pictures obtained from the .Ranger ships transmitted before the Craft crash landed provided the firs Concrete clue that Many areas of the Moon Are smooth enough or manned landings. But it was the Surveyor and Luna orbiter series that produced the most dramatic evidence of conditions on the Moon. Five lunar orbiters relayed thousands of excellent pictures As the circled the Moon swooping As close As 26 Miles. As a result scientists now Page 12 have a Clear Complete map of both the front Side and the Back Side which is not visible from the  capt. Lee r. Scherer director of the National aeronautics and space administration s Apollo lunar exploration office said the orbiter flights have shown us that the radiation and Micro meteoroid Hazard in the Vicinity of the Moon is nothing that we need worry about. We now know the Apoll spacecraft design is sufficient to meet the environment of the  said the study of the photos will occupy lunar scientists for Many  know that we see things like rolling boulders Scherer said t St we know there s some sort of activity on the Moon. We know without question that there s volcanic activity on the Moon. We see features that look very suchlike dry riverbeds on Earth so there s been some sort of flow on the  he United states also sent satellite named lunar explorer around the Moon without cameras to make a extensive scientific probe of the Environ ment. It found new evidence that re sults in Nasa Labelling the Moon a cold nonmagnetic  among the findings were that the Moon has no magnetic Field radiation belts or ionosphere. There is nothing to Stop the radiation bearing solar wind from constantly brushing the lunar sur face on the Side facing the Sun. The most Complex unmanned space vehicles Ever built were the seven in the Surveyor series five of which scored remarkable soft landings in Dif Ferent areas of the Moon bearing revolving cameras chemistry laboratories and scoops which dug beneath the sur face. The most meaningful scientific Dat came from the tiny Surveyor chemistry labs which made the first chemical analysis of an extraterrestrial body. They showed that the surface in the smooth Plains is nearly identical to the Basaltic Rock scattered Over a great portion of the Earth. Surveyor 7 landed in the rugged Highlands North of the Crater Tycho. In addition to Basalt it detected the same kind of Granite Rock heat is found in Many mountains on Earth including the .  finding added new fuel to the continuing scientific debate Over the Moon s origin. Eugene Shoemaker of the . Geo logical Survey and others cautioned against abandoning any of the current theories on lunar origin until Man has visited the Moon and brought Bac samples. But Shoemaker said data May strengthen the theory that the Moon at one time was part of the Earth and split away millions of years ago to be come an Earth satellite. It is generally believed that our Sola system controlled by the Sun. Was formed Between 4.3 billion and 4.7 Bil lion years ago possibly by a great Gas Nasa remarkable photo is mosaic of to shots taken by Surveyor Al Len january this Yearl Hows surface Sampler at work digging trenches for soil testing device. Cloud spinning out from the Sun or fro the collision of two massive stars. Many believe that the Taxon Harbor the secret of this creation. On the Earth the atmosphere and oceans Wear away surface features to 40 million to 50 Mil lion years. Mountain building activity turns Over Large areas Oil the surface in about the same time. But on the Moon there Are no oceans or atmosphere to destroy the surface and there is Little if any Mountain building. For these reasons the Moon has retained a record which probably dates Back to the infancy of the solar system. Man now has the tools the rockets Sentif Moon and spaceships to pursue this Sci goal. He will not just visit the i he will explore it using lunar orbiter and Surveyor data. Nasa has narrowed to five the number of Sites being considered for the first astronaut Landing. By Spring experts Hope to reduce this to three onegin the Ocean of storms in the West one almost dead Centre in he Middle Bay and one in the sea of Tranquility in the East. Hie final Choice will de Pend on the launching Date. The first three Man lunar Crew will ride the main Apollo Cabin Section into orbit about the Moon after a three Day _ from the Earth. Then two of Cemen will Transfer into a lunar for the trip Down to the  continue to orbit 00 Miles he Moon. Of the scientific planning for Fly Moon missions is being Don science and applications i Ite of Nasa s manned space in Houston. Wilmot n. Hess head of the i Ite said uie most important goal first flight is to bring Home of the lunar soil. One of the fax men will attempt to get Sample As quickly As possible they have to make a Quick emergency Takeoff Hess said. Hell probably just step outside and grab a handful of material to be sure he does come Back  later Hess said if there Are no problems the two will gather up to 80 pounds of rocks dust and other material which they will pack in vacuum sealed  up to 300 feet from the parked lunar module and operating Ona buddy system in which both Are out Side at the same time they win plan several measuring devices on the sur face for a year or More after the visitors leave these devices will radioed on Page 1 Nasa of r .m.t, _. La double exposure shows rocket lofting Surveyor to Moon recorded earlier j on same part of film. % 4 1 Fefe is a lunar orbiter Iii snapped View of Moon where Ocean of proce Larum meets jagged altered surface. A i i the stars and stripes the stars and stripes Page 13