Speaker 1: Hi, this is Ashernat Charlie Duke, tenth man to walk
Speaker 1: on the Moon on Apollo sixteen in April nineteen seventy two.
Speaker 1: And I'll be coming to Space Fast nine in July
Speaker 1: and Tucson at the Star Pass Marriott Resort. And it's
Speaker 1: a great thrill of being on and listening to The
Speaker 1: Doctor Sky Show.
Speaker 2: And welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to the exciting show
Speaker 2: that you tell us you like so much, The Doctor
Speaker 2: Sky Show with great guests from the realms of astronomy, space, aviation,
Speaker 2: and weather and celebrity guests in the mix. Let me
Speaker 2: be the first to thank our producer extraordinaire Richard Dugan.
Speaker 2: Radio station AZSB that's AM twelve ninety in Santa Barbara, California,
Speaker 2: and a big shout out to our flagship radio station
Speaker 2: that is KTR News ninety two point three FM out
Speaker 2: of Phoenix. We of course welcome all the stations around
Speaker 2: the nation, you know, ladies, and it's a rare treat
Speaker 2: to talk to a man who's actually walked on the moon.
Speaker 2: This an amazing story about to unfold today on The
Speaker 2: Doctor Sky Show. And also we're going to be promoting
Speaker 2: the upcoming space Fest nine gathering that'll happen in Tucson, Arizona,
Speaker 2: at the beautiful Marriotte Star Pass Resort from July the
Speaker 2: fifth to the eighth. On the line today and it's
Speaker 2: a tribut real tribute and a privilege, in an honor.
Speaker 2: They have the tenth man to walk on the surface
Speaker 2: of the Moon, Charles Duke, the Lunar module pilot of
Speaker 2: Apollo sixteen. And also, ladies and gentlemen, the Capcom Neil
Speaker 2: Armstrong himself had suggested that he be the Capcom for
Speaker 2: Apollo eleven. Charles Duke, mister Duke, Welcome to the Doctor
Speaker 2: Sky Show. Thank you, sir, Thank you very much. It's
Speaker 2: really going to be with you today. Well, it's the
Speaker 2: highest of honors. I kind of shake here when I talk,
Speaker 2: because I've had the privilege and honor, sir, of meeting
Speaker 2: five of no, actually seven of the moonwalkers. And as
Speaker 2: you know, sir, today only about four astronauts that walk
Speaker 2: the Moon still walking the Earth. But you were the
Speaker 2: youngest is that correct? In the Antallo entire program of
Speaker 2: moonwalkers to the surface of the Moon in the Apollo program,
Speaker 2: Is that correct?
Speaker 1: I was the youngest about four months, and since nobody
Speaker 1: else has been there, I'm still the youngest.
Speaker 2: Well that's a great honor, sir. And you know, as
Speaker 2: a young boy, and I'm sure like a lot of
Speaker 2: young men and women, I followed every one of these
Speaker 2: launches on my parents black and white television when we
Speaker 2: lived back in New York. But let's start all over
Speaker 2: again and go and reminisce about the first, of course,
Speaker 2: of the Great Moon landings, when Neil and Buzz landed
Speaker 2: on the surface of Meritranquility tatas the the Sea of Tranquility.
Speaker 2: I should say, as you know so well, you were
Speaker 2: the capcom for that particular mission. And is it correct
Speaker 2: that Neil actually wanted you to be the voice on
Speaker 2: the other end of that line, if that we can
Speaker 2: say it that way, is that correct?
Speaker 1: I was on, Yeah, I was on the same job,
Speaker 1: did the same job on Apollo ten, and it was
Speaker 1: so it was decided that the whole crew, gene Clance's
Speaker 1: crew or flight would roll over and do the same
Speaker 1: thing on Apollo eleven. And normally the capcom changes they
Speaker 1: usually have somebody from the support crew for that. But
Speaker 1: Neil said, well, why don't you do that? And just
Speaker 1: continue on. So since we train for the almost the
Speaker 1: same mission on Apollo ten except for the landing, the
Speaker 1: whole crew was ready to go, and so I was
Speaker 1: fortunate to maintain stay on that gene Clance's flight and
Speaker 1: participated in that first landing, which was historic and a
Speaker 1: great thrill for me and humbling experience.
Speaker 2: Absolutely. I know those words from Neil Armstrong, of course
Speaker 2: resonate in everybody's mind throughout history about being the first
Speaker 2: on the moon. Your words, and I want to repeat
Speaker 2: them and hopefully I get them right. And I quote
Speaker 2: Roger Tranquilberte you we copy you. On the ground. You
Speaker 2: got a bunch of guys about the turn. We're breathing again.
Speaker 2: Thanks a lot, And I remember that like it was yesterday, sir.
Speaker 2: And what we're talking forty seven is years or for
Speaker 2: actually longer than that. So we're coming up wat to
Speaker 2: the fiftieth anniversary very soon for the Apollo eleven landing.
Speaker 1: It's amazing right well, this next month forty ninth, so
Speaker 1: the fiftieth will be next year. A lot of celebrations
Speaker 1: game planned, and we're just excited to still have two
Speaker 1: of the cruise del I've buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins.
Speaker 2: Yes, sir, amazing story in history. Will concentrate for the
Speaker 2: rest of this particular interview, sir, if you don't mind,
Speaker 2: of course, on the epic journey of Apollo sixteen, Casper
Speaker 2: and Orian on top of that massive, most impressive rock
Speaker 2: at the Saturn five. I was a young boys, sir,
Speaker 2: and I was brought down to Florida to witness what
Speaker 2: then would have been the Apollo thirteen launch, and unfortunately
Speaker 2: we were there not at the right time. We saw
Speaker 2: that massive stack sitting on the launch pad on top
Speaker 2: of that call. We actually watched it move out to
Speaker 2: the launch pad. But sir, you're one of the few
Speaker 2: people in history that can tell us, you and your
Speaker 2: other two crewmates, what's it like when they fires and
Speaker 2: engines of those f one engines light off. What's that
Speaker 2: feeling like as you're moving out of Earth's gravity?
Speaker 1: The vibration, I thought is extreme on Saturn five. List off.
Speaker 1: The five engines are producing over seven and a half
Speaker 1: million pounds of thrust and it's a three hundred and
Speaker 1: sixty three feet long aluminum structure, if you will, so
Speaker 1: as the engines move at the bottom to guide the trajectory.
Speaker 1: That vibration is transmitted up to the spacecraft, and it's
Speaker 1: a very significant vibration from side to side, it's from
Speaker 1: shoulder to shoulder, and it was really got my attention.
Speaker 1: You know, it's a first and only time I've ridden
Speaker 1: a Saturn in I was suspect. I said, is it
Speaker 1: really supposed to shake this hard? But John was very cool,
Speaker 1: we'll go, and the mission control said we're going, so
Speaker 1: I said, well, maybe this is the way it's supposed
Speaker 1: to be. But it was really really vibrating, and my
Speaker 1: heart I was a little excited, to say the least.
Speaker 1: And I found out later from the flight surgeon it
Speaker 1: lifted off. My heartbeat was like one hundred and forty four,
Speaker 1: so I was really keyed up. But there was no noise,
Speaker 1: you know. The only noise you could hear was the
Speaker 1: oxygen through your helmet and all the communications. The engine
Speaker 1: noise was almost insignificant, which was strange because if you're
Speaker 1: standing away from the vehicle, the noise and the vibration
Speaker 1: is intense. Anyway, it was a great ride. First stage.
Speaker 1: We've burned up four and a half million pounds of
Speaker 1: fuel in two minutes and forty one seconds.
Speaker 2: Wow, that's incredible. And you know, folks, if you're listening
Speaker 2: to this, and we know you are here and around
Speaker 2: the nation, our very special guest today, we're really privileged
Speaker 2: and honored to have Charles Duke, the tenth man to
Speaker 2: walk on the Moon, the youngest of the moonwalkers to
Speaker 2: ever go to the surface of the Moon. And again,
Speaker 2: ladies and gentlemen, only twelve humans have ever set foot
Speaker 2: on the surface of the Moon. We'll be talking about
Speaker 2: that and so much more with our very special guest.
Speaker 2: You know, mister Duke, I remember watching the Apollo twelve launch,
Speaker 2: and I know that President Nixon witnessed that there in
Speaker 2: kind of a stormy environment, rain and thunder and maybe lightning.
Speaker 2: And what I'm understood is that Alban of course and
Speaker 2: the other crew members on Apollo twelve, is it actually
Speaker 2: true that they got struck by lightning or lightning actually
Speaker 2: shut down a good part of their communications and electronics
Speaker 2: as they're going up into space.
Speaker 1: Well, it got struck by light and I think I
Speaker 1: remember a comment from Pete Conrad that said, hey, maybe
Speaker 1: we got hit by lightning, or somebody said something. It
Speaker 1: was just a suspicion, but nobody. The whole Apollo space
Speaker 1: graph electrical system went down, knocked off all the fuel cells.
Speaker 1: You know, all of the data was dropped off and
Speaker 1: it hadn't have been for uh uh And well, to me,
Speaker 1: Pete Conrad was just the coolest commander not to abort,
Speaker 1: throw the abort switch and or handle and uh and
Speaker 1: ejected them off off that rocket. But he held his cool.
Speaker 1: And finally they had a data switch. They put the
Speaker 1: auxiliary se s to AUS and they did that and
Speaker 1: the data started coming back to mission control. And then
Speaker 1: they figured out, well, we didn't hit my lightning, but
Speaker 1: the instrument unit in the and the Saturn was not affected.
Speaker 1: So it was continuing to control the spacecraft and well
Speaker 1: not the spacecraft but the Saturn five and so it
Speaker 1: was going to go to and orbit regardless of what
Speaker 1: the command module look like. But they got it back
Speaker 1: up as they were going up. But it was really tricky,
Speaker 1: I'll tell you. And one of the closest calls that
Speaker 1: we had in Apollo other than Apollo thirteen.
Speaker 2: Yes, sir, totally amazing. Let's talk about the mission of
Speaker 2: Apollo sixteen, John Young, of course, Ken Matile and yourself
Speaker 2: sailing to the Moon, and this is an amazing journey, sir.
Speaker 2: In your words, this is what I've always wanted to
Speaker 2: ask because I've built so many spacecraft, and obviously I
Speaker 2: try to read as much as I can. It's my
Speaker 2: favorite subject, sir. And I'm not just kissing up here
Speaker 2: to the chef as they say, this is really a
Speaker 2: fascinating story. Once you're in Earth orbit, you fire that
Speaker 2: particular motor, the rocket motor, onto your capsule in spacecraft,
Speaker 2: describe the journey to the Moon. How many days does
Speaker 2: it take? And you're still in the confines of a
Speaker 2: water rather small environments, as I say, the least as
Speaker 2: you head toward the Moon.
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, the size of the command module inside had
Speaker 1: three hundred cubic feet, but that included all the equipment panels,
Speaker 1: the storage panels, the seeds, anything, and so each astronaut
Speaker 1: had about sixty eight cubic feet of volume that we
Speaker 1: had to operate in. But frankfully, you don't find it
Speaker 1: very crowded in zero gravity. You can float out of
Speaker 1: the seats, you go up into the tunnel, you can
Speaker 1: float above the seats. So it was nobody, I don't
Speaker 1: think felt it really cramped. We had plenty of room.
Speaker 1: The other part was on the way to the Moon.
Speaker 1: It took for Apollo, it took three days, about seventy
Speaker 1: two hours, and that was because of the fuel budget
Speaker 1: we had on the Command Service module engine. If you
Speaker 1: fired direct to the Moon, you're going so fast when
Speaker 1: you get there, we didn't have enough fuel and Apollo
Speaker 1: to slow down and get in orbit and then get
Speaker 1: back out of orbit again. So they pointed you way
Speaker 1: out in front of the Moon and allowed gravity Arth's
Speaker 1: gravity to slow you down. So the initial velocity like
Speaker 1: twenty five thousand miles an hour, but the average velocity
Speaker 1: over the trip to the Moon was probably thirty five
Speaker 1: hundred miles an hour. And so when you arrived at
Speaker 1: the Moon, you were still going too fast to go
Speaker 1: into orbit, but you had enough fuel to slow down,
Speaker 1: get in orbit, and then enough fuel left to get
Speaker 1: out of orbit and bring you back home. So the
Speaker 1: trip with seventy two hours tripped back with seventy two hours.
Speaker 2: That's amazing, mister Douke. I'm still scratching my head because
Speaker 2: thinking about this in history, it's probably an I'm saying
Speaker 2: this and you're always free to comment. This is probably
Speaker 2: what the greatest technological feat that the human species has
Speaker 2: ever done. And it's interesting that we talk about space
Speaker 2: today where we have astronauts on International Space Station, they're
Speaker 2: simply in lower Earth orbit. So U twelve and the
Speaker 2: other members, of course, not just those that went to
Speaker 2: the surface, those that went around the Moon have literally
Speaker 2: been the farthest humans ever in old time. And looking
Speaker 2: we're only two quarter million miles away, so we're hoping
Speaker 2: the few time brings us great space exploration to Yeah, it.
Speaker 1: Was, I mean, it was incredible that in Apollo it
Speaker 1: was a technological high point. I think probably a thousand
Speaker 1: years from now, one of the highlights of the twentieth
Speaker 1: century or human history until that point, was a leaving
Speaker 1: Earth orbit and landing on the Moon. It was incredible
Speaker 1: feat and that we did it in eight years and
Speaker 1: two months from the time of the announcement of the
Speaker 1: program was incredible. The US was just focused on the
Speaker 1: space race and we were determined to win it, and
Speaker 1: so it was all out, if you will, for the US,
Speaker 1: and you know, basically an unlimited budget, four hundred thousand
Speaker 1: people working on it, great technicians and scientists, engineers, and
Speaker 1: they built two great spacecraft Polo command module had a
Speaker 1: serious problem in the block one, but when they got
Speaker 1: and so they had to fire. But we changed it
Speaker 1: all and got it back on track and we were
Speaker 1: able to course, kneel and bus the land eight years
Speaker 1: and two months after the announcement of the program. So
Speaker 1: fantastic accomplishment.
Speaker 2: Let's talk briefly about the descent of the surface of
Speaker 2: the Moon. You and Commander John Young are at the
Speaker 2: controls of this amazing spacecraft, the Orion, as it continues
Speaker 2: to go down. About how high above the lunar surface
Speaker 2: are you when you begin the descent to the de
Speaker 2: cartridge and I believe on the surface of the Moon.
Speaker 2: This is interesting.
Speaker 1: We were about fifty thousand feet a little over eight
Speaker 1: miles and I think it was like two hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty miles up range, and so we started this descent.
Speaker 1: I don't remember exactly, but it was nine minutes or
Speaker 1: so from the start of ignition. It started the descent
Speaker 1: until you actually landed, and you're the attitude of the
Speaker 1: spacecraft was pointing. The windows were pointed out into space,
Speaker 1: so you didn't see the Moon approaching, and you were
Speaker 1: the landing radar walked on so you knew your rated descent,
Speaker 1: you knew your altitude, and you had a profile made
Speaker 1: sure you were on it, mission control, your go and
Speaker 1: all of those things, so you had a lot of
Speaker 1: confidence that you were on track. But the vehicle finally
Speaker 1: about seven thousand feet above the moon, it pitches down
Speaker 1: and the windows come and move such as you can
Speaker 1: see the landing site for the very first time, and
Speaker 1: we recognized the major craters in our landing spot. We
Speaker 1: called them, had named them Lone Star and Gator, and
Speaker 1: we saw those and we started maneuvering to the landing site.
Speaker 1: And unfortunately, the photographs that we had to study the
Speaker 1: landing site was a resolution of forty five feet, so
Speaker 1: things less than forty five feet were not seen in
Speaker 1: these photographs. And all of a sudden we realized there
Speaker 1: are a lot of craters up here are less than
Speaker 1: forty five feet, and a lot of rocks, and you
Speaker 1: had to make decisions really really quickly to find a
Speaker 1: level spot without a crater or boulders. And John did
Speaker 1: a fantastic job picking a spot and we landed with
Speaker 1: almost dead level and plenty of eight. Once we got out,
Speaker 1: we found it was reasy, easy to walk or walk around,
Speaker 1: but it turned out that we were about three yards
Speaker 1: beyond a big crater that we had not even Seen't
Speaker 1: think of that three yards backwards. We'd have had one
Speaker 1: leg back in this crater, and I'm not sure we
Speaker 1: would have been able to get out the experiments package,
Speaker 1: which was on the back side. Anyway, we didn't.
Speaker 2: This is amazing. Now, this is an amazing interview. We
Speaker 2: continue here with Charles Duke, ledd As and gentlemen here
Speaker 2: on the Doctor Sky Show. Of course, the tenth human
Speaker 2: to walk on the surface of the Moon. Only twelve
Speaker 2: have hes kind enough to spend time with us on
Speaker 2: The Doctor Sky Show. And I promise you, mister Duke,
Speaker 2: at the end will be of course doing a build
Speaker 2: up to Spacefest nine. You'll be attending along with many
Speaker 2: other dignitaries, astronauts, authors, speakers. I've spoken there a number
Speaker 2: of times, and that event takes place July the fifth
Speaker 2: through the eighth at this most beautiful resort. As you know, sir,
Speaker 2: the Marriotte start passing Tucson. Obviously, folks go to and
Speaker 2: search for the website or space Fest nine right off
Speaker 2: of the Internet. But mister Duke getting on the surface
Speaker 2: of the Moon. I mean, this is really amazing. I
Speaker 2: love the emotion part of this, because your blood pressure
Speaker 2: is probably you know, your heartbeats going. You're on the
Speaker 2: surface of the moon. And what's it like, seriously to
Speaker 2: come down that ladder. What were your thoughts as you
Speaker 2: actually stepped foot on this most amazing place, the moon.
Speaker 1: Well, I couldn't wait to come come down the ladder.
Speaker 1: We were supposed I was supposed to wait ten minutes
Speaker 1: until John got down and stableissed, and it was I
Speaker 1: was so excited. I closed chain sides and got on
Speaker 1: the sideway. I could get out the door, and I
Speaker 1: started out, and I was really excited coming down the ladder.
Speaker 1: And when I stepped onto the moon for the first time,
Speaker 1: it felt totally natural to me. It was not tentative steps.
Speaker 1: Of course. Of course, we were the fifth landing, so
Speaker 1: we knew that our weight, we weren't going to sink
Speaker 1: out of sight in the moon dust, and so you
Speaker 1: just get excited. And there were emotions like excitement and
Speaker 1: awe and wander and just almost unbelievable. I'm standing on
Speaker 1: the moon. I'm standing on the moon, and there was
Speaker 1: probably the most beautiful desert that I could describe, but
Speaker 1: with gray in color. Very rough topography, is rolling ridges
Speaker 1: and stuff, and very sharp break between the bright lunar
Speaker 1: surface and the blackness of the sky. And so we
Speaker 1: were excited about it, but we we had a lot
Speaker 1: to do, so we were busy, but we enjoyed it,
Speaker 1: and the fun of the three days never left, you know.
Speaker 2: Edrew Mitchell told me I spent a lot of time
Speaker 2: with Edgar, and of course you know him better than
Speaker 2: I do in his time of course in the astronaut core.
Speaker 2: But he told me on the surface of the Moon,
Speaker 2: he and Alan Shepherd were so busy they were pulling
Speaker 2: that little rickshaw. Obviously didn't have the luxury of the
Speaker 2: lunar rover like you, gentlemen had, and of course the
Speaker 2: wonders of the lunar rover. He said that on the
Speaker 2: surface of the Moon he could look up at the
Speaker 2: Earth and if I'm correct on this, tell us as
Speaker 2: you look, he said, the Earth appears like four times
Speaker 2: the size of what our full moon here is on
Speaker 2: the Earth, so simply way larger than we see our
Speaker 2: moon in our sky.
Speaker 1: Correct, well, it is, I mean, it is actually four
Speaker 1: times bigger. But it didn't look like that to me
Speaker 1: in the sky, it was a tremendous view. Unfortunately, where
Speaker 1: we stood on the Moon, the Earth was directly over
Speaker 1: our head and so up in your Paula suit and
Speaker 1: you're looking at the top of your opaque helmet, so
Speaker 1: you don't see it except for looking through the little
Speaker 1: telescope we had on the rover to get the antenna
Speaker 1: pointed at the Earth. But in Earth orbit we'd come
Speaker 1: around from the backside and before we landed, and there
Speaker 1: was this beautiful Earth rise which was very, very dramatic,
Speaker 1: and I remember holding my hand out and from the
Speaker 1: luar distance the Earth would fit under the puddle of
Speaker 1: my hand, so totally amazing. It's incredibly beautiful blue and
Speaker 1: white and little tins of brown every once in a
Speaker 1: while the land was all brown.
Speaker 2: You're on the Moon, as you know, for three EVAs
Speaker 2: twenty hours, some fourteen minutes and change, and obviously the
Speaker 2: lunar rover goes some sixteen miles in all your exploration there.
Speaker 2: But it's amazing that you come across the I see
Speaker 2: one part of the video or the film at the
Speaker 2: time where you and of course John Young come upon
Speaker 2: a very very large boulder that's that's incredible. I haven't
Speaker 2: seen large boulders like that in previous Apollo landings. Tell
Speaker 2: me about that. That's amazing.
Speaker 1: Well, it was on our third excursion and we'd gone
Speaker 1: to an objective what was called north Way Crater, which
Speaker 1: was a crater about the five hundred yards wide and
Speaker 1: about one hundred yards deep. And on we landed, we
Speaker 1: stopped on the it would be the southwest southeast corner
Speaker 1: of the of the of the crater to start a expiration.
Speaker 1: And I looked over and on the far rim was
Speaker 1: a was this rock. And I said, John, let's go
Speaker 1: down and inspect that rock. He I was too far away.
Speaker 1: Let's don't do that. And I said, come on, John's
Speaker 1: just right over there. So I talked him into it,
Speaker 1: and so we started jogging. And so one of the
Speaker 1: problems on the Moon you have no familiar objects to
Speaker 1: judge distance and size, No telephone, poles, trees, cars, people,
Speaker 1: things like that. And so we started jogging in the
Speaker 1: rock getting bigger and kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger,
Speaker 1: and finally we ended up down there and it was
Speaker 1: like house rock, we called it. I would estimate it
Speaker 1: was probably eighty to ninety feet across the base and
Speaker 1: maybe thirty feet high. It was enormous and I'd be
Speaker 1: willing to bet it's probably the biggest rock anybody ever
Speaker 1: actually touched and got a sample of on all of Apollo.
Speaker 1: That's increatably beautiful.
Speaker 2: You bring back about two hundred and eleven pounds and
Speaker 2: I'm reading this, sir, I mean you lived it. You
Speaker 2: bring it back about two hundred and eleven pounds of
Speaker 2: moon rocks of the so eight hundred and fifty is
Speaker 2: pounds that came back through the whole mission. But this
Speaker 2: is amazing. This is more of the human side. You've
Speaker 2: done something on the surface of the Moon, and I'm
Speaker 2: sure other astronauts have two. But you do something very symbolic.
Speaker 2: You leave on the moon a family portray your family,
Speaker 2: and you put it inside water a little piece of
Speaker 2: light plastic envelope enclosure. And also, if I'm correct, so
Speaker 2: you leave an air force metal on there for those
Speaker 2: that served. I mean, that's really amazing. Talk about the
Speaker 2: picture on the moon in the middle.
Speaker 1: Well, briefly, yeah, that's the only picture, only family picture
Speaker 1: on the moon in all of Apollo. And my kids
Speaker 1: were when I flew was one with seven almost five,
Speaker 1: the other almost five. So I wanted to get them involved.
Speaker 1: And y'all would like to go to the moon with Dad. Yeah,
Speaker 1: let's take the whole family of the Moon. And so
Speaker 1: we thought of this idea of this little snapshot. Friend
Speaker 1: took the picture, we got it developed, I got it
Speaker 1: approved to carry, and my idea was to drop it
Speaker 1: on the Moon the last eva at the end of
Speaker 1: the last and that's what we did. I dropped it
Speaker 1: on the Moon and took the picture of the picture
Speaker 1: which has become a very iconic image now for Apollo and.
Speaker 2: Was.
Speaker 1: I put it in a plastic bag, if you will,
Speaker 1: and closed it and passed the shrink wrap I guess
Speaker 1: you'd call it. And it hit the Moon and right
Speaker 1: side up, and I took the picture. And then also
Speaker 1: we had a medal at the Air Force had struck
Speaker 1: a small like a silver dollar size. It was the
Speaker 1: twenty fifth anniversary of the Air Force in nineteen seventy
Speaker 1: two and US Air Force and I was the only
Speaker 1: US Air Force officer going to be on the Moon
Speaker 1: that year. So we struck up this idea of saying
Speaker 1: happy Birthday from the Moon, and as part of that
Speaker 1: little ceremony, was dropping this coin on the Moon.
Speaker 2: That's a beautiful story, sir. I mean that's something that
Speaker 2: on the surface of the Moon, things last for billions
Speaker 2: of years. I imagine the picture what is still there
Speaker 2: and shining brightly correct, Well, the pictures.
Speaker 1: There, but it's it's the extreme temperature of the lunar
Speaker 1: surface from night to day and cosmic radiation. Everybody thinks
Speaker 1: that it's all faded away now, even some people even say,
Speaker 1: thank the colors of the flags have faded away. Nobody
Speaker 1: knows unless we go back, so the remains of the
Speaker 1: picture are still There's what I'm trying to say, But
Speaker 1: I'm not sure it'd be recognizable.
Speaker 2: Well, that's incredible.
Speaker 1: I know exactly where I dropped it. Though. If I
Speaker 1: go back, I look.
Speaker 2: I hope we all get to go see that, sir,
Speaker 2: And I think that's amazing. But it's amazing here. I
Speaker 2: want to just end off on something else. There's another
Speaker 2: person in Mattingly who's doing what the loneliest man in
Speaker 2: the world job as every one of the pilots who
Speaker 2: flies around the Moon. There's a lot of science going
Speaker 2: on there. But can you imagine, I mean, those stories
Speaker 2: are just equally important that those people are so vital
Speaker 2: to your mission. Finally, I ask this, as you're ready
Speaker 2: to leave the surface of the Moon, you have to
Speaker 2: do a series of want buttons and switches to actually
Speaker 2: get the ascent motor going. Obviously, if that had failed,
Speaker 2: well then we know what would have been the likelihood
Speaker 2: of survival on the Moon. But those engineers, here's a
Speaker 2: big shout out, mister Douke. I'm sure like you did
Speaker 2: many times that when you pressed or flipped the switch,
Speaker 2: the ascent motor did its job, and thank goodness, it did.
Speaker 1: Right, You're right. You're sitting there a lot of tension
Speaker 1: at that point. The computer's counting down to the ignition.
Speaker 1: It's a sequence that the computer initiates, you know, separates
Speaker 1: the deset stage, electrical plumbing, all that stuff. Explosive boats
Speaker 1: go and then the all that ripple so fast, so
Speaker 1: you just almost one second and then the engine starts,
Speaker 1: and it was if you listen to my comments going up,
Speaker 1: what a ride? What a ride? And you're on your way.
Speaker 1: If it had no lit we had some emergency procedures
Speaker 1: we could go through and try to get it going.
Speaker 1: If we didn't, we'd power down and make it last
Speaker 1: as long as possible, and maybe somebody come up with
Speaker 1: a good idea. But rocket motors are pretty simple, no
Speaker 1: moving parts. You know, you need a fuel and oxidizer
Speaker 1: and you need a pressurization system and so electricity to
Speaker 1: open the valves and that's it. And so that it
Speaker 1: was a great little engine. That Ascent engine worked perfectly
Speaker 1: on every flight.
Speaker 2: Well, sir, the time we have is just a few
Speaker 2: more moments with you in this time, in this segment.
Speaker 2: But I want to thank you, sir for your service
Speaker 2: to the United States of America, your military service and all,
Speaker 2: no matter what rank, the men and women the United
Speaker 2: States military, that many have given their lives for freedom.
Speaker 2: And again, twelve moonwalkers. Charles Duke is our very special
Speaker 2: guest if you're just joining us. He's the tenth man,
Speaker 2: the tenth human to walk on the surface of the Moon.
Speaker 2: He and his commander John Young and Ken Mattingley go
Speaker 2: into the history books with Apollo sixteen April to sixteenth
Speaker 2: through April the twenty seventh, nineteen seventy two. Again, so
Speaker 2: I'm reading this, some two hundred and eleven pounds of
Speaker 2: precious moon rocks return to the surface of the Earth.
Speaker 2: I got to ask you this, sir, what's your hope
Speaker 2: and prayer for this country and maybe us to explore
Speaker 2: the Moon again. I think we should have done it.
Speaker 2: I'm biased we should be there already with habitation modules.
Speaker 2: But what say you about the promise of the future
Speaker 2: going to the Moon.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm with you. I look forward to a return
Speaker 1: to the Moon and with habitation modules, and so we
Speaker 1: set up a space station on the Moon. I think
Speaker 1: it would be a great environment to do that. And
Speaker 1: you're close enough to get help if you have problems,
Speaker 1: and then you cycle cruise back every three or four
Speaker 1: months or whatever it turns out, and we can learn
Speaker 1: some you know, manufacturing techniques. We could develop systems that
Speaker 1: we have great confidence in so that when we go
Speaker 1: to Mars that we can you're basically autonomous on your
Speaker 1: own at Mars. So we've developed these things on the
Speaker 1: Moon that are so reliable that we have great confidence
Speaker 1: that we can repeat it on Mars eventually. So I
Speaker 1: think we should return to the Moon as as soon
Speaker 1: as possible.
Speaker 2: I certainly agree, sir. And you're hearing it legends someone
Speaker 2: from Man who walks the walk he talks that he's
Speaker 2: been there and sir, just in case there's any doubting
Speaker 2: people out there, and I hear this insanity from time
Speaker 2: to time and that we never went to the Moon.
Speaker 2: I'm here in Arizona, sir, and we're close to the
Speaker 2: folks that have managed the the lro the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter,
Speaker 2: And as you know, I'm amazed that the spacecraft has
Speaker 2: given such a visual identification of all of the Apollo
Speaker 2: landing sites. You and of course the Lunar rover that's
Speaker 2: on the surface of the Moon. You can see the tracks.
Speaker 2: And believe me, folks, that's amazing, isn't it, mister Douke,
Speaker 2: to see that imaging from space to show even that
Speaker 2: the scent modules sitting there. I'm as at that technology.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the RO folks have been real good about sending
Speaker 1: me copies of some of the unique photographs the space
Speaker 1: graph is taken. And so it's hard to than that
Speaker 1: when you see the vehicles all sitting and all the
Speaker 1: landing sites, the fixed landing, you see the vehicles there,
Speaker 1: so it's hard to say you faked it.
Speaker 2: Last comment I'd like to get to you, so before
Speaker 2: we go to the bottom of the hour break here
Speaker 2: I'm understood from speaking to other moonwalkers and other astronauts
Speaker 2: that lunar dust gets in just about everything. And those
Speaker 2: just beautiful white suits that you have when you go
Speaker 2: to the moon, they look and you see them in
Speaker 2: the museums, they get a little bit dirtied up. And
Speaker 2: let's say you inside the Orion, you're there, what trying
Speaker 2: to get as much of that stuff off? It gets
Speaker 2: in everything. I'm told is that car rushes all over
Speaker 2: the place.
Speaker 1: Well, we had brushes, but we quickly realized that the
Speaker 1: moon dust was so fine that we weren't going to
Speaker 1: brush much off. And we tried outside, got back inside
Speaker 1: and we were a little bit more available, I mean,
Speaker 1: able to wipe dust off with towels and stuff. But
Speaker 1: it finally we just gave up and said what we
Speaker 1: were interested in cleaning the connectors and stuff like that,
Speaker 1: and just let the color of the suit go. But
Speaker 1: we ended up gray. You're right, it's it just gets
Speaker 1: all over you and so it's just impossible clean up.
Speaker 2: I want to thank you from the bottom of my
Speaker 2: heart and all the listeners who love the Apollo program.
Speaker 2: It'll never be forgotten. And my mission is doctor Sky
Speaker 2: among others is to go out there and help explain
Speaker 2: and to promote and to share knowledge with the young
Speaker 2: people today about the great stories like yourself and of
Speaker 2: course John Young, Ken Mattingley and all in the Apollo
Speaker 2: program and all of the astronauts. And we wish you well, sir.
Speaker 2: If you stay with us, don't hang up. As we
Speaker 2: go to the bottom of the break, I'd like to
Speaker 2: chat with you off air. That concludes this exciting addition
Speaker 2: as always of the Doctor Sky Show, a ten year
Speaker 2: legacy with great guests as you know today from the
Speaker 2: realms of astronomy, space aviation, and of course celebrity guests
Speaker 2: in the mix Charles Duke, the tenth man on the
Speaker 2: surface of the Moon. I'm honored by your presence, Sarah,
Speaker 2: and I'm sure the audience is really excited to have you.
Speaker 2: Doctor Sky reminds everyone, and I'm sure mister Duke would agree. Right.
Speaker 2: Always remember to keep your eyes to the skyes.
Speaker 1: Thank you, right, my pleasure to be with you. It'll
Speaker 1: look forward to stay fast.
Speaker 2: Thank you and stand by sir and stay on the
Speaker 2: line with us, and thank you for that. I do.
Speaker 2: We'll be back in just a moment.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I