U.S. Considering Lunar Tests In Antarctica

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30984, 14 February 1966, Page 13

U.S. Considering Lunar Tests In Antarctica

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is considering testing lunar vehicles in the Antarctic, but at the moment it is just an idea, according to Dr. T. O. Jones, director of environmental sciences and Antarctic programmes in the National Science Foundation of the United States. It was unlikely that a soft landing of a lunar vehicle would be tried there, he said in Christchurch, but the extremely cold temperatures would be a great test of motors. “If you take a close look at the Russian moon pictures you can see some resemb-

lance to the Antarctic terrain,” Dr. Jones said. “There are patches of black rough ground rather like the dry valleys of Antarctica, and the high plateau matches moon conditions of extreme cold. Snow surfaces in some ways might match dust surfaces on the moon.” Dr. Jones said that if Antarctic tests were made—and it was a big if—it would be for “workability” of a lunar vehicle in certain physical conditions. Manoeuvring had not been considered. These operations and tests in heat could be tried in the American deserts.