Nostalgia surrounds Apollo flight

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33095, 9 December 1972, Page 15

Nostalgia surrounds Apollo flight

(N.Z. Press Association— Copyright) HOUSTON, December 8. Their flight already tinged with nostalgia, the Apollo 17 astronauts today moved steadily towards America’s final and most challenging Moon landing of this decade.

Captain Eugene Ceman, Commander Ronald Evans, and Dr Harrison Schmitt, asleep in their first full night in space, have passed the half-way mark in their journey—--132,005 miles from Earth, outward bound at 3074 m.p.h.

Barring unforseen complications, Apollo 17 will swing into orbit around the Moon on Sunday after making up the two hours, 40 minutes lost before the launching yesterday by an extra burst of speed. Captain Ceman and Dr Schmitt intend to land on

Monday in a steep-walled lunar canyon. Scientists say the two men may find both the oldest and the youngest Moon material at their landing site—located near the left eye of the Man in the Moon. Commander Evans will orbit the Moon alone while his companions land. THE LAST TIME’ The three men are the last of the Apollo pioneers. Their splashdown on December 19 will end the bold, $25,000m Moon-landing programme—and might be America’s last manned flight beyond Earth’s orbit in this century.

In space and on the ground, every event yesterday was touched with a little nostalgia. “There’s quite a bit of it around,” said a flight director, Mr Gerald Griffin.

"As we tick those things (in the flight plan) off, people stand around with a wistful look in their eye and say: ‘Hey, that’s the last time we’re going to do that.” MINOR CORRECTION Apollo 17 took off on such a true course that a correction manoeuvre yesterday afternoon was cancelled. But, said Mr Griffin, a minor course correction would be needed early tomorrow (N.Z. time). He said that without it—unless some other manoeuvres were made—the astronauts would crash into the lunar surface instead of going into orbit 60 miles above the Moon’s far side.

The firing will be the first test in space of the engine that must brake Apollo 17 into lunar orbit. The astronauts will fire the engine for about a second, increasing their speed by about 7 m.p.h. “We’re just tweaking up the trajectory,” said Mr Griffin.