[extropy-chat] "Okay. We got that solar wind."

[Amara Graps]

For some chuckles. When I was digging up material for a popular
science article I wrote about how Earth got its water, I discovered
this dialog at the Genesis mission web site- their public outreach
material. I couldn't stop laughing at the astronaut dialog.

The context is the following. One of the important values to use as a
base comparison for noble gas measurements in the solar system are
neon isotope ratios. The uppermost limit of 20Ne/22Ne is assumed to be
that from the solar nebula, which can be measured from gases streaming
out from the Sun, (the solar wind). Some of the best measurements
today of the isotope ratios of the noble gases in the solar wind were
made by the solar wind collection (SWC) experiment on the Moon, placed
by the Apollo astronauts between 1969 and 1972.  The SWC experiment
consisted of a 4200 cm^2 aluminum metal foil placed on a five-section
telescopic pole and unrolled. After the collection time, different for
each mission, which ranged from  ~1 hour to ~50 hours, the foil was
rolled up again and returned to the Earth.

Have fun...

Amara


=========== amusing side story: Conversation of Apollo 12 Astronauts
                                 with Houston  =====

(reference:  Genesis educational literature)

The difficulty in rolling up the foil after collection varied from one
mission to another. Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean had a tougher than
usual time rolling up the foil from that mission's solar wind
collector (SWC). He described the need to have the foil and tape
looked at in lunar conditions for future missions. Astronauts Alan
Bean and Pete Conrad are speaking with mission control's Ed Gibson:

134:55:26 Bean: "Solar wind doesn't like to roll up much. (Pause)
Little rascal, doesn't want to roll up. (I'll) just wrap it around
here best I can, without getting any dirt on it." (Pause)

134:56:13 Bean: "Okay. We got that solar wind."

134:56:17 Conrad: "Good boy!"

134:56:20 Bean: "Houston, we got that solar wind, but it didn't roll
up in a very neat package."

134:56:26 Gibson: "Roger, Al. We copy. That's all right." (Long Pause)

134:56:46 Conrad: "Hey, it sure didn't, did it?"

134:56:48 Bean: "No. It just didn't. It split right near the top."

134:56:50 Conrad: "Can I help you?"

134:56:51 Bean: "Yeah. You can hold that, and I'll just try to roll it
up as best I can without getting any...I already got a little dirt on
it that's not doing any good. (Pause) You see what I mean?"

134:57:02 Conrad: "Yeah."

134:57:03 Bean: "Not a lot I can do about it. I'm sure it's [the solar
wind] a good experiment. That thing is fragile."

134:57:09 Conrad: "Here, let me hold this end, and you just wrap it
tight. That a boy."

134:57:14 Bean: "I'll squeeze it down." [This is probably where Al is
compressing the roll with his hands to get it tight enough to fit in
the bag.]

134:57:15 Conrad: "That a..."

134:57:16 Bean: "And chase down any of those noble gases or whatever
that crud is. Okay. Stick that in there? (To Gibson) Looks bad, but I
think it will do the job, Houston. We squashed it in so it's..."

134:57:27 Conrad: "Where is it [the bag]?"

134:57:29 Bean: "It's right...Let me get it for you."

134:57:32 CapCom: "Roger, Al."

134:57:34 Bean: "There you go. Okay. It just doesn't look so good, Houston."

==========================================================================


-- 

Amara Graps, PhD
Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario (IFSI)
Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF),
Adjunct Assistant Professor Astronomy, AUR,
Roma, ITALIA     Amara.Graps at ifsi.rm.cnr.it