Apollo Splash-down May Be Advanced

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31935, 12 March 1969, Page 13

Apollo Splash-down May Be Advanced

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) HOUSTON, March 11. The three Apollo 9 astronauts will spend their ninth day in orbit today taking more photographs of the earth while ground controllers keep an anxious eye on weather conditions in the Western Atlantic, where the spacecraft is due to splash down on Thursday.

Recovery ships stationed across the Atlantic from the main recovery area, about 370 miles south-west of Bermuda, to a standby area off the north-west coast of Africa, report seas from eight to 12 feet high, and winds up to 60 knots.

The flight director (Mr Eugene Kranz) said last night that it was too early to speculate about bringing down the spacecraft ahead of time, but he said: "1 think we’re going to start seriously looking at the weather front tomorrow.” Mr Kranz added that recovery ships in the Pacific had reported good weather. “We’ve many options—we can move recovery areas down range or up range,” he said. Thoughts Of Food “Up-to-date information on all the necessary manoeuvres that would be required for an emergency landing at various spots is being constantly passed on to the astronauts, but before we bring Apollo down, we want more accomplished. At the present time we have no reason to bring it down early.” Despite a main course of

space-style shrimp cocktail, the thoughts of the astronauts, Colonels James MeDivitt and David Scott, and Mr Russell Schweickart, were still on food as they turned in to sleep last night. Told that, on the basis of their telecast rendering of “Happy Birthday” choruses on Monday, they had been invited to an audition as a trio for a concert. The astronauts remarked: “Oh, boy, wonder what kind of food they serve?”

The astronauts’ main activity today will be to continue taking pictures of selected areas of the earth with a special multi-spectral camera which scientists hope will produce panoramic pictures to help them to compile an accurate map of the earth’s natural resources. From these pictures it may

be possible to trace such things as ore deposits, or detect early signs of drought or disease affecting grain fields. Landing Plans Yesterday the astronauts covered sections of Mexico, South America, and Africa. Today they will concentrate on Northern Chile, the Himalayas, Japan, Western Pakistan and other sections of the United States. They will also photogaph other parts of the world, including Africa along a path from Mauritania to the Malagasy Republic. According to National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials, the United States hopes to land men on the moon three times this year if a first attempt in July, by Apollo 11, is successful. Apollo 12 would be launched in September and Apollo 13 in December. And two more moon-land-ings in the first six months of 1970 are also planned.