The Dawning of Aquarius

AFTER five months of relative somnolence, Cape Kennedy was once more a scene of feverish activity. All attention last week was focused on launch pad 39A, where the Apollo 13 spacecraft rested atop a huge Saturn 5 rocket, ready to carry U.S. astronauts to their third landing on the moon. As the long countdown began, there was noticeably less excitement than had accompanied previous moon missions; the complex Apollo launchings have already become almost routine.

But there is nothing routine about the mission planned for Astronauts James Lovell, Fred Haise and Ken Mattingly. It may well prove to be the most challenging test yet of man's skills in space and on the forbidding surface of the moon. The Apollo 13 crew will attempt the first landing in the rugged lunar highlands and spend more time (33 1/2 hours) and walk farther on the moon's surface (more than two miles) than previous astronauts. In the opinion of many scientists, their more sophisticated experiments will mark the real beginning of intensive scientific exploration of the moon.

Extra Precautions. For Apollo's launch, scheduled on Saturday, April 11 at 2:13 p.m., E.S.T., NASA has introduced a number of innovations. To prevent a repetition of the spectacular lightning flashes that marred Apollo 12's rain-drenched takeoff, momentarily knocking out the craft's electrical power, the space agency has set strict new weather limitations; should atmospheric conditions pose any threat of electrical disturbances, the flight will be postponed. As an added precaution, one of Apollo's three fuel cells has been placed in a separate circuit, lessening the possibility of complete loss of electrical power in the event of an accident. At launch time, the world may get its best live look yet at the flaming ascent of a Saturn rocket; NASA has mounted a new, heat-resistant color TV camera directly on the umbilical tower.

The target for Apollo's lunar module, which the astronauts have named Aquarius, is an area near the Crater Fra Mauro (named for a 15th century Italian monk-cartographer). Located 110 miles from Apollo's Ocean of Storms landing site, the target area is covered with jagged hills and ridges, some of them hundreds of feet high. There are relatively few level sites in the vicinity, and the landing will require all of Command Pilot Lovell's skill. But the Apollo 13 astronauts--whose motto is Ex Luna, Scientia (From the Moon, Knowledge)--are taking the risk because of the area's immense geological importance. Unlike the flatter, smoother lunar maria, the highlands have apparently been little changed since the moon was formed some 4.5 billion years ago; thus their structure and composition will give scientists new insights into early lunar evolution.

Lunar Past. Fra Mauro is a particularly interesting highland area. Blanketed with rock and soil, it is covered with debris that was probably ejected by the massive impact that created Mare Imbrium, or Sea of Rains, some 300 miles to the north. Indeed, some of this primordial matter, thrown up from depths of 100 miles or more, may have been involved in the original formation of the moon. Fra Mauro is probably also covered by other layers of debris that were spewed out by the meteorite impacts that created the craters Eratosthenes and Copernicus. In addition, volcanic material and the churning of the lunar surface by billions of years of micrometeorite impacts have added their distinctive characteristics to the surrounding surface. By landing at Fra Mauro, the astronauts may be able to find many differing geological clues to the lunar past, all within a single compact area.

Getting to that area will be far more hazardous than earlier moon landings, but the mission planners have adopted a shrewd fuel-conserving stratagem that should reduce some of the danger. On previous missions, the lunar lander separated from the mother ship while the two were circling the moon at an altitude of 69 miles. But Apollo 13's command vehicle, Odyssey, will be sent into a more elliptical lunar orbit that will drop it to a height of only nine miles before Aquarius is released. As a result, the lunar lander will use less fuel in its final descent and have enough left to hover a crucial 15 seconds longer before touching down. That extra time may well be necessary to find a level landing site on the rugged landscape.

Before the actual touchdown Wednesday night, Lovell and Lunar Module Pilot Haise will swoop in from the east, easily clearing an 800-ft.-high ridge at the approach to their landing area. Ahead will be a curious horseshoe-shaped feature called Weird Crater. Lovell, who has logged more time in space than any other man (572 hr. 10 min.), will probably attempt to set down between two groups of craters named Doublet and Triplet. If he overshoots his prime target, he may try for one of two nearby alternative landing sites picked by NASA planners (see chart).

Wetting the Whistle. Three hours after touchdown, Lovell will descend the LM's ladder and become the fifth man to walk the dusty surface of the moon. He will be joined by Haise 20 minutes later, and the two will proceed with the now familiar lunar routine--unfolding the umbrella-shaped S-band antenna, setting up the American flag, preparing the package of nuclear-powered experiments for deployment.

But there will be some changes in the routine. To prevent the kind of blackout caused when Apollo 12 Astronaut Alan Bean inadvertently pointed his TV camera at the sun, the astronauts have been instructed to keep their color camera aimed at least 45DEG away from the solar disk. The Apollo 13 camera also is equipped with a lens cap and has a backup: a spare black-and-white model inside the cabin. Other improvements in their paraphernalia: antiglare visors, 8-oz. water pouches inside their suits ("Nice for wetting the whistle," Haise explains), backpacks to haul lunar samples (instead of the fancy Teflon bags that hooked to their sides) and even a nylon whisk broom to brush off the clinging lunar dust.

During their two lunar walks, the astronauts may stay out as long as five hours and venture nearly a mile from Aquarius. Besides the usual rock collecting and photographic chores (movies and stills), they will take several cores of moon material with a battery-powered drill that can penetrate as far as 10 ft. below the surface. But the most adventurous part of these excursions should be the climb to the 250-ft.-to-400-ft.-high lip of Cone Crater, where the astronauts hope to chip away at the car-sized boulders that may be part of the rook flung there from the Sea of Rains.

On Friday morning, the moon walkers will rejoin their fellow astronaut Mattingly, still orbiting in Odyssey, send Aquarius crashing into the moon about 42 miles from its original landing site, and head for home. Ten days after the launch from Cape Kennedy, the astronauts are scheduled to splash down in the Pacific about 200 miles south of Christmas Island, bringing back samples that should add immeasurably to man's knowledge of his nearest celestial neighbor.

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