European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 15, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Two decades after the last Moonwalk space exploration is in limbo by Marcia Dunn a aerospace writer Twenty years later the words still chill Harrison t a Jack Quot Schmitt one of the last two men on the Moon a this May be the last time in this Century that men will walk on the Moon Quot president Nixon declared after Schmitt and Eugene Cernan rocketed off the lunar surface on dec. 14, 1972, Schmitt has never forgiven Nixon for that remark and says he never will. Quot whether that turned out to be True or not it was an inappropriate statement for the president of the United states to make Quot lie said. What a worse it s proving to be Tiue. Twenty years after Apollo 17, the last of six manned lunar landings nasal a plan to Send astronauts Back to the Moon and on to Mars is up in the air there is no funding for the space exploration initiative this fiscal year and As Cernan sees it no vision no Challenge no derring do. Quot we re talking about a generation ago having gone a Quarter million Miles into space a generation ago and yet today to done to have the capability to go More than 300 or 400 Miles from the surface of this Earth Quot said Cernan who commanded Apollo 17 Cernan Schmitt and Ronald Evans loft Earth on a mighty Saturn 5 rocket on dec. 7, 1972. F our Days later As Evans orbited the Moon in the com Nard ship America Cernan became the 1 1th Man to walk on the Moon. Schmitt was no. 12. The last footsteps on the Moon were those of Cernan. Quot we leave As we came and god willing we shall return with peace and Hope for All Mankind a Cernan said before following Schmitt into the lunar module for the third and final time. I he Mission and arguably nasal a grandest Eia ended Doc 19, 1972, when the Apollo 17 spacecraft splashed Down in the Pacific Ocean. Quot to used to say Apollo 17 was not the end but rather i lie beginning Quot Cernan recalled. A the problem is neither Luck Schmitt not i Noi ton Evans Ever dreamed that the beginning would be a generation in coming and maybe it i not Here yet 1 Neman wonders what people will say 100 or 200 years from now Quot when they look Back at the order and sequence we did things Quot we went to the Moon and somehow forgot to keep going a he says. There a been skylab and Apollo soyuz and the shuttle. Around the turn of the Century there probably will be the orbiting space station Freedom. But that s As far As american space travel goes although president Bush in 1989 proposed colonizing the Moon Early in the next Century and later sending astronauts to Mars Little Progress has been made due to Lack of funding. Congress refused to fund the space exploration initiative or Sei in the budget year that began oct. 1. Michael Griffin Nasa s associate administrator for exploration had planned to use most of the requested $32 million to Start building the first in a series of robotic lunar probes precursors to human settlement. He had been aiming for a Spring 1995 launch. Well be at least a year later on that and that assumes we get funding for the next fiscal year Griffin said. Quot we re not going to be going to the Moon or Mars or indeed anywhere unless there is some added Money for Nasa. Those things done to come nasal a budget this fiscal year is $14.3 billion slightly less than last years. Its not just the Federal deficit that is hurting Sei Griffin said. Its the Way Money for space is appropriated by Congress and politics too a democratic members of Congress were reluctant to support the Bush administrations exploration plans he said. Space policy analyst John Pike of the federation of american scientists blames the withering Moon and Mars support on Bush and vice president Dan Quayle head of the National space Council. He said neither Bush nor a Quayle Ever asked the two fundamental questions Quot Why Are we doing it and How Are we going to pay for it Quot Bush had set a goal of having astronauts on Mars by the year 2019, the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, the first manned lunar Landing. Quot my disappointment with the Sei program is that the Woik they have been doing has primarily focused on How you re going to do it rather than Why you re going to do it Quot Pike said. The How a for Mars anyway a Lias focused on nuclear powered rockets. Nuclear propulsion could Cut travel time to the red planet by nearly half a 300 Days round trip including a 14-Day stay As opposed to 500 Days via chemical rockets. Its assumed such a venture would be International in scope. Nasa plans to use space station Freedom once it s built to test Mars flight equipment and astronaut endurance. Space officials doubt Freedom will be of much use to lunar base planners. Setting up Camp on the Moon though is a necessary stepping Stone for Mars Griffin said. The current plan is for astronauts to initially spend 45 Days on the Moon with the stints gradually getting longer and longer. Quot i think its a crazed notion from an engineering viewpoint to go directly to Mars without resuming travel to the Moon a Griffin said. Quot its a three year affair away from Home and if we do that next we wont have been to the Moon for three decades and the last time we went to the Moon we were limited to three Days. There a just too big of a although its too soon to say How the space exploration initiative will fare under a Clinton administration most political and space experts believe the program will be shelved for economic reasons at least for a while. Preliminary estimates by Nasa put the Cost of a lunar base and human expeditions to Mars at $400 billion to $500 billion Over 30 years. Griffin believes it could be done More cheaply but is reluctant to specify a Price or timetable. Quot we done to know and we wont know until we spend substantially More on a study Effort than we be done Quot Griffin said. To avoid Cost overruns Griffin has pledged to limit the robotic lunar missions to $100 million each including launch expenses. At least three such missions Are planned. A Jay Greene flight dynamics officer for Apollo 17 and now Griffin a Deputy targets the year 2005 for the next human Moon Mission at least in theory. Quot once we get the dollars five to seven years and we re there a Greene said. A a it a a function of when the dollars Start to space exploration advocates envision astronauts mining the Moon and erecting giant observatories Fot viewing the universe. Those views would not be obstructed by atmosphere As they Are on Earth the Moon is airless. Such ideas enthral Nasa s 89 astronauts Many of whom joined the space program in Hopes of one Day going to the Moon and Mars. Quot its just those dreamy things that you have in the Back of your mind that motivate you and then you do the real things that Are practical Quot said astronaut Michael Foale. Who will make his second shuttle flight in the Spring Quot i Hope these things become practical Greene figures astronauts could be going to Mars 10 years after humans return to the Moon. But he quickly adds �?�1 done to know if Well opt to do Quot i think we re going to find so much on the Moon that Well want to stay there before we push on or if you re a Pessimist we wont find enough on the Moon and so we won t want to go to Mars a Greene said. Former Nasa historian Alex Roland now a history professor at Duke University already is convinced there a nothing on the Moon Worth pursuing. A we be been there and we be looked around. The evidence is pretty overwhelming a Roland said. As for Mars Roland suggests sending robots rather than people. Robotic exploration is cheaper and More efficient and has enormous technological payoffs on Earth namely in automation he said. Roland admits humans and not robots were needed for Apollo. Quot Apollo was primarily a political gesture in the cold War Roland said. Quot by and Large we got our Money s Worth out of that simply because it had to be very dramatic and highly Nasa spent $25 billion Over 11 years to Send men to the Moon. Three More Moon Landing missions had been planned a Apollo 18, 19 and 20 a but were cancelled because of Cost and waning Public interest to scientists dismay. A it would have been Nice to build upon 4. And we could have been going to the Moon routinely and regularly Quot Greene said. Despite what could have been the 20th anniversary of the end of Apollo should be a time for Celebration not sorrow. Greene said it s something we did that was really wonderful ii s not sad Quot Greene said. Quot i guess what s sad is the fact that Thoie s nothing like Apollo in the future to look Orward to that a sad a Moon men look Back in Awe w Cernan recalls the powering Way of this Earth. By Marcia Dunn a aerospace writer there a so much so much Moio they wish they could have done Anci said during their 75 hours on the Moon a a you do a lot of tilings you Don t plan to do said lingerie Cernan who As Apollo 17 commander left the last footprint on the Moon 20 decembers ago Quot yet there Aio a Minikon things i wish i Hud done things i forgot to say or tributes i forgot to make m pictures i forgot to take Quot for Cernan and Hanison Jack Schmitt 75 fours just weren to enough on the lunar surface even though that was longer than the 10 previous Moon walkers stayed they spent Moie time outside then sunni module 22 hours a and covered Moie distance in a lunar Lovei 22 Miles and brought Buck More Moon rocks 344 pounds than anyone else to go a Quarter of a Dion Moo a in into space and have to take time out to sleep and rest. I wished i could have stayed awake for 75 hours straight a Cernan said. Quot i knew when i left id never have a Chance to come Cernan now 58 and a Houston businessman remembers those three Days Well it was his third and last space flight and his second trip to the Moon. His Fust Moon Mission was Apollo 10, Nasa s mat dress rehearsal he got to within nine Miles of the sea of Tranquillity. I wanted to go Back Quot Cernan said. Quot i wanted hat last 50,000 the Navy Pilot landed the lunar module challenger in the Valley called Taurus Wittrow on dec 11, 1972, with Schmitt at his Side As Ronald Evans circled the Moon m the command ship. The time on Earth was 2 55 p in Esix in we sent Down that lunar engine i Anuran be you there has never been a que car moment m my he Quot Cernan said there s anything that became routine. Almost every instant of the time you re there is the most memorable but if i had to focus on one thing it was Jud to look Back at the overwhelming an i overpowering Beauty of this Ceth Schmitt now 57 and a bus Ness consultant in Albuquerque n m. Recalls the Sun being a brighter than any new Mexico Sun you can imagine and illuminating the 7,000-foot-h in mountains ringing the Valley. At the same Lime the sky t m not think was the blackest of Black and was Quot this remarkable Marble White As the first american scion Schmitt a geologist Apreo a moonscape All the More it space flight. He went on to t senator. Quot it is a scene and a c Quot Only have when you re the1 Evans who also a once died of a heart at am 56. He called going to m Quot sex penance i to a a n its midst Cue and t in spaced the Tii Only a saus e can Quot said mat a it a g e a Mot the Only bad part at least for Cernan. Was the selfishness he Felt for having All that Beauty to himself in a Humble attempt to share Cernan Drew the letters Quot fac Quot with a Finger on the Dusty Gray surface of the Moon near the parked Rover just before tie climbed into the lunar module for the third and final time those were the initials of his Only child Teresa Dawn then 9 years old it was a spontaneous gesture one of those things he Hadnot planned to Cio those initials will be there forever. Cernan said. Quot someone will go Back there someday and find our lunar descent stage and our lunar Rover and our footprints and those initials and say i wonder Tio was here9 some ancient Cwi Oouinn was hero bark in the 20th Century and k at the funny Mart s they Marie what s imports Quot i i nows she can Tei her or u r Someru mat her Iniba me m. A t a cd a Sand of the Moon he test of i to a Mem s a. 4 or of a h Vij i a a f a a it went to the Moon and somehow forgot to keep going Eugene Cernan Apollo 17 astronaut the planned space station Freedom left has been scaled Back and delayed. Page 14 the stars and is Ripe tuesday. Deem t of i he stars and stripes pug.? 1 n
