orld AUGUST, 1969 Cg SPECRALA\ Tt —lo)— he COMMUNICATIONS OW. THE towWhen men fest walk on the Moon's surface, they will be able to communicate by vhf. radio with cack other and with the command module orbiting overhead. They will also be directly in touch with Karth by mieroware radio and will be able to send back live television pictures over HEN Christopher Columbus sailed his way into W history almost five centuries ayo, he severed cor lct with civilization fer the duration of his vos~ 140. Except (0 the 90 sailors who manned the expedition, Columbus’ twas aul qiamphs, including his discovery of new world, remained unrevealed until his return (On July 16, if NASA plans proceed on schedule, a now breed of explorers will embark on 2 voyage that will rank them alongside Cohimbne in the annals of mankind’ great adventures. Yet, although their trip will averse adie tance 45 times that of Columbus’ ronte, they will not, ex cept for short intervals, face ivolation from the civilization they leave behind, A steam of electnonie signals will flow from the two Apollo LL spaceships. Gatheved in by a workdewide track network, they will be relaved iistantly to the NASA Manned Spacceralt Center in Hoston, Texas, where Cadre ol onission conteollers will be supporting astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, and Mike Collins as they Fall man’s centuries-old desire to escape the confines of his native planet and alight upon another bedy in the Unie verse, A sharp contrast to the plight of Columbus, who ad to-do bis own piloting and mission planning virtually alone most simultaneously as they are flasbed before the NASA officials, the signals bearing in minute detail tho progress of Apollo LL will be broaceast internationally, al Towing the entire world to dave in the drama of the manned lunar landing, Apollo 11 sll begin from Cape Kennedy when 3 Saturn 5 rockot, thundoxing aloft with 7.5 million pounds of tlie rives the Apollo commémd/servive (CSM) and lana (EM) modiaes, as well as its own third stage, into. earth exbit. After Tess than two revolutions of the lobe, during which the third stage and spacecrait systems will be checked. Sul, the rocket will reignite to propel the astronauts on their way to a Iunar touchdown Aknost immediately alter the transhonar coast bein, the astronauts will separate their CSM from the third stage, tum it around, and dock with the LM. They will then ex: tract LM froin its adapter still attached to the rocket the vast translunar distance. On the fourth day of the mission, as the CSM-LM com: fon swings around the Moon, the CSM service prop ul system engine will fie to brake the docked spacecralts! speed and allow them to be captured in hmar orbit. A soeoned engine bunt hier will cireulurize the orbit ap proxinrately 69 nauitical miles. Then on the Bfth day, astronauts Armstrong and Aldenwill tansfer to LAL from the CSM. throngh the docking hel and power up the lander’s systems to cheek them out dllowing the checkout, Armstrong and Aldrin will sepa- rate LM from the C! their descent engine te lower the LM or @ Moon. As they appreach closer to the Iivar surface, they will beain terminal descent Gueing which they vill five the engine almost constantly toting 6 power to achive Tending i elcoper Lishion, On the Moon's Su The fist order of business for Amnstronig and Aldsin after the landing will be to check out the LMT systems to make certain everything i ready for the lift-off that will sett tein to the CSM, pilbted by Collins, in orbit around the Moo. That accomplished, they will don their portable Ife support systema backpacks, depressurize the LM, and open its door, Moments later, Armatrongg will seale down the LM. Ialder and step onto the lunar sutface. ‘Armstrong later will be joined by Aldrin outside the spaceship a8 they begin a modest exploration, staying with- in 31) ta, 100 feet of the LM, During this tine—about 2 Tovrs, 49 minutes of the total 82-hour kanar stay will be spent outside the spaceeralt—che astronauts will stay in tench with one and with, mission controllers on Euuth, tsing a compact extra-vehicalar comonunications sys: tem (EVCS) built by RCA. he E wh transceiver set in, each astronaut’s backpack, Although each measures only 117 x 6” x 1" and weighs only 6.5 pounds, it contains two AN receivers, two AM transmitters, either an FM transmitter Or an FM receiver, plus telemetry fustrumentation (0 tans mit astronaut biomedical data and status of the spacesuit, Use of an FM receiver in one EVCS unit and the EM transmitter in the other will allow the receiver-equipped extravehicular sation (EVA) to serve as a radio-rela point lor voice and site between hs partner and the LM. Tha arrangement Tas one EVA tranemit cia FM (279 CS consiste of Miz) to the second, which converts the transmission, to AM. (259.7 or 296.8 MFlz) for relay to the LM eommunies- tions systems, Both ustronauts can also transmit divectly to TM ri AN “The LM, in tum, will convert the vb voice and data transmissions to u.kef, S-band microwave signals and trans- mit them to Earth on 4 carrier frequency of 2289.5 MHz ‘The teaming of vb. and whe. S-bad is characteristic of the entire Apollo communieations scheme, which rust Tink two spacecraft to Earth and to exch other, and ako make provision for astronauts exploring the Moon. S-band barriers are used for spacecraft-to-Karth links for both LM md CSM, and viuf, will be employed for communications between the two spaceships and for extra-vehicular accivie ty on the Moon: Ti all cases, the S-band and vhf. can be converted to bone another, providing a number of communications paths to asare that everyone—the CSM, IM, and Farth=remains incomtact Umbrella An The wh, transmsisions to and from the Moon guce LM lands ca he concticted nia a remarkable antenna. Called the “Schad e1ectable antenna,” itis stored as a eylinder only 10 inches in diameter and 39 inches long. After the land: llinder from the LM, set of the astronauts can renove th tp its tripod, extend the telescoping feed, attach a cable from EM, and “pop” the antenna much like an umbrella so that it Iblossouns into dish Il) fect in diameter. Total weight of the ‘entire sngenna is M4 pound. For Apalla LT the ereciable antenna will serve as a can tingency tem, although it i slated for prime use in future Innar landings. The erectable antenna has 32-dB gain, aboot 12 dB more than the 2G4nch steerable dish on the LM which will han» dle S-band transmission and reception when the spacecraft fs in flight and alter it hinds, The evectable antenna focuses its energy so that ils Gansinissions will cover the entire por tin of the Barth facing the Moan at any aiven time, Astronauts on the Iheon will we vac