Apollo Astronauts Train at the Nevada Test Site; Nevada Test Site History DOE/NV - -772 - Rev 2
Las Vegas, NV: National Nuclear Security Administration, Nevada Site Office, Office of Public Affairs, 2013. Presumed First printing for Rev 2. Single sheet, printed on both sides. Format is approximately 8.5 inches by 11 inches. Illustrations and text on both sides. The Nevada Test Site was the primary testing location of American nuclear devices from 1951 to 1992; 928 announced nuclear tests occurred there. Of those, 828 were underground. (Sixty-two of the underground tests included multiple, simultaneous nuclear detonations, adding 93 detonations and bringing the total number of NTS nuclear detonations to 1,021, of which 921 were underground.) The site is covered with subsidence craters from the testing. The NTS was the United States' primary location for tests smaller than 1 Mt (4.2 PJ). 126 tests were conducted elsewhere, including most larger tests. Many of these occurred at the Pacific Proving Grounds in the Marshall Islands. The last atmospheric test detonation at the Nevada Test Site was "Little Feller I" of Operation Sunbeam, on July 17, 1962. Before Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the moon on July 20, 1969, Armstrong, and astronauts Dick Gordon, Buzz Aldrin, Dave Scott, and Russell “Rusty” Schweikart left their footprints on the Nevada Test Site, now known as the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) as part of their lunar training. Their three-day visit began on February 16, 1965. It was the first training mission by a group of astronauts from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Their mission was to carry out geological and geophysical studies at Sedan crater and Buckboard Mesa, which later aided the astronauts in observing and collecting material from the moon's surface, and helping expand knowledge and understanding about our solar system. During their visit to the Nevada Test Site, astronauts were briefed by geologists from the Atomic Energy Commission's Nevada Operations Office, Special Projects Branch, and the United States Geological Survey Astrogeology Branch. The first group of astronauts visited Sedan crater on the first day, where they practiced making geophysical observations around the lip of the crater. On the second day, they flew by helicopter over the rough Nevada terrain near the western edge of the site. While there, they stopped and studied the geology of the ancient volcanic formations made by the Timber Mountain caldera, the largest caldera known in the United States, whose features are similar to those on the surface of the moon. Condition: Very good.
Keywords: Nevada Test Site, Astronauts, Apollo Program, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Schweikart, Lunar Training, Geophysical Studies, Geological Studies, Sedan Crater, Caldera
[Book #90850]
Price: $20.00