Word: nasa
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Apollo 15's commander, Dave Scott, and his fellow moon walker, Jim Irwin, are confident that the landing will be well worth the risks. So are NASA's scientists. Located at the southeastern edge of the Sea of Rains, the perilous highland landing site is farther north of the lunar equator than any area yet trod by man. It offers a scientifically tantalizing sampling of four major types of lunar features: a mare (or lunar sea of once molten lava), an alpine range called the Apennines, a deep, snaking rille or gorge and a variety of puzzling smaller...
...Command-Module Pilot Al Worden practiced maneuvers on Apollo flight simulators, underwent extensive medical examinations, took spins in a terrestrial version of their moon rover and reviewed the myriad details of their lengthy flight plans in the final hours of the countdown. Even the Russians helped. In response to NASA's inquiries, Soviet space officials assured the U.S. that the recent deaths of three cosmonauts aboard Soyuz 11 were not the result of any new problems that might imperil the Apollo 15 astronauts...
...later, on Saturday afternoon, Aug. 7, Endeavour is scheduled to splash down in the Pacific, 328 miles north of Hawaii. For the astronauts, it should be an especially warm homecoming. Since no moon bugs or other dangerous sources of contamination have been brought back to earth on previous flights, NASA will not require the men of Apollo 15 to undergo the usual 21-day postflight quarantine...
LIEUT. COLONEL JAMES B. IRWIN, 41, the lunar-module pilot, was almost barred from space. Severely injured in a 1961 plane crash (two broken legs, a fractured jaw and a concussion that temporarily wiped out part of his memory), Irwin was twice rejected by NASA before he was finally selected in 1966. Born in Pittsburgh, Pa., Irwin graduated from the Naval Academy in 1951, accepted a commission in the Air Force and quickly developed a taste for flying. Relatively short (5 ft. 8 in.) and introspective, he runs and plays tennis to keep in shape but seems to like...
...example of sheer technological innovation, however, nothing aboard Apollo 15 quite beats NASA's new I.RV (for Lunar Roving Vehicle), more commonly known as the "moon rover." Tucked away in the side of Falcon, the collapsible, 10-ft.-long jumble of aluminum tubing, wire and rods might easily be mistaken for a Rube Goldbergian version of an old-fashioned foldaway Murphy bed. Actually, it is one of the most unusual and expensive cars ever built (cost of the moon buggy program: $37.8 million...