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When it comes to spending our money like a drunken sailor Uncle Sam does a fantastic job.
Don't get me wrong I love science, but what part of the Constitution gives the Federal government the power to spend our money on space exploration? Let the private sector finance these things. The fading 'lunar surface' ERIC BETZ Sun Staff Reporter | Posted: Sunday, October 2, 2011 5:05 am In the late 1960s, NASA was looking for a way to get astronauts ready to explore the moon. Although the lunar surface is pockmarked with craters of all sizes, the young surface of the Earth has relatively few. To create a realistic landing site, NASA turned to a large, flat cinder field northeast of Flagstaff and a team of experts from the United States Geological Survey. On Saturday, a small group of Flagstaff residents got a guided tour of that training site, thanks to a USGS astronomer and the Flagstaff Festival of Science. In between the fall rain showers, research geologist Laszlo Keszthelyi guided the group on a 4x4-only trip around the field and explained the area. The site now sits across from the city of Flagstaff's landfill, overgrown with weeds and run over with ATV tracks thanks to a poorly maintained fence. But 50 years ago, it was teeming with young, untested astronauts eager to get a taste of the moon. "They tried to copy an exact place on the moon," Keszthelyi said. "They didn't just dig it, they used explosives." ZEN ROCK GARDEN Constructing this solar system stage was no easy task. First, engineers used a grader to drag out all the bumps and irregularities like some kind of massive Zen rock garden. Then, the area was surveyed and spiked to replicate a site on the moon called Mare Tranquillitatis -- the site where Neil Armstrong would lay the first human bootprints. They calculated the exact depths and amounts of explosives required to recreate more than 400 craters with remarkable accuracy. To the untrained eye, an aerial photo from the cinder field taken in the '60s is almost indistinguishable from a photo taken by a lunar satellite. "It gave a good sense of what the surface would be like to start with," Keszthelyi said. PICKING OUT ROCKS Once the lunar landscape was set, geologists brought in rocks from California and other places to create a "problem" for the astronauts to solve. The trainees used equipment like rovers and communication devices similar to what they would have on the moon and picked out the rocks that looked out of place or exceptional. That way, they could determine how the area might have formed under the invented scenario. The task would also eventually help them decide which rocks would fill the limited space on the return trip. "Those rocks are still out there," he said. "There's still a puzzle out there waiting for people to try to solve." Despite all the ATV tracks and overgrowth, the area is still the best preserved of the landing sites NASA created. Two other sites in northern Arizona have already been washed away. USGS EXHIBIT The USGS campus next to Buffalo Park is also still home to lunar science research and people visit their archives to learn about how astronauts trained for the moon. "We got really excited when we thought we were going to go back to the moon, but it looks like that's not happening," Keszthelyi said. Astronauts and scientists use other areas in northern Arizona to train for future trips, but now the pretend missions focus on exploring asteroids in light of shifting NASA priorities. For those interested in learning more, the USGS has an exhibit open to the public, complete with a lunar rover and various artifacts from the Apollo era to today. Eric Betz can be reached at ebetz@azdailysun.com or 556-2250. |