A brief description of the model and the Apollo 14 site
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The model measures 0.6 x 1.2 meters, with a scale of 1:1500, so 1 cm is 15 meters in the terrain, extending from the LM to the Cone Crater. Images from LROC was projected onto the model so that the location of rocks and craters could be determined. So this has become a reasonably accurate description of the area, more accurate than any of the other models, so far. A tiny model of the LM (0.4 cm tall) and a speck for the ALSEP was also put in. Shepard and Mitchells view from the summit could be visualized, and why they could not see the interior of Cone from their stations, can be appreciated. The long 2 km moonwalk during EVA 2, with the unique two-wheeled MET transporter for tools and instruments, makes this mission a one-time-only historic event in lunar exploration. That the darker trail in the moondust is visible all the way to the crater rim area by stations C prime and C1 in the current LROC images is truly remarkable, and these tracks are therefore also included in the model. The contour levels from earlier maps were used for the topography.
The Apollo 14 Lunar Module Antares landed on the
lunar surface February 5, 1971 in the undulating, ridgy Fra Mauro region. The Fra Mauro Formation covers large areas of the
near side of the moon, and it is composed of
material that was excavated by a large impact that
formed the Imbrium basin. The
landing site is 1,230 km south of the center of the Imbrium
basin.
The mission commander (CDR) was Adm. Alan B.
Shepard, the first American astronaut, on Mercury 1,
to fly into space. The LM pilot (LMP) was Capt. Edgar
D. Mitchell, and the Command Module pilot (CMP)
was Lt. Col. Stuart A. Roosa.
Shepard and Mitchell walked about 1 km to the rim of the Cone Crater, pulling and carrying the two-wheeled MET transporter with them. From the LM and ALSEP station to the Cone summit, it is about 90 meters height difference. The undulating terrain made it difficult to orient, and the astronauts could not easily find their way, and drifted too far to the south of the crater, ending up at station C prime, south east of the crater rim. Luckily, this station was located only some 100 meters from the rim, in a boulder field which turned out to be ejected from Cone Crater. The following station, C1, was even closer to the rim, and more light colored larger rocks were sampled near Saddle Rock. The astonauts were only about 20-30 meters from the rim at this point, but sadly, the interior of the crater remained invisible to them due to the sloping of the crater down to the north. The rim of the crater appeared only as a rocky local horizon to the north, clearly seen on the photos taken by the astronauts. The scientific objectives were obtained, but Shepard and Mitchell were not granted a look into the 350 meter diameter (and 20-30 million year old) "drill hole" into the Fra Mauro formation. The interior of the crater still has to wait for human visitors, if that ever will happen. Apollo 15, with the Rover navigation system, would solve these location problems on the next flight.