Apollo 18

Apollo 18

The 5000 year old Stonehenge theme was suggested by geologist astronaut Jack Schmitt. The sun illuminates the monument and reflects the hope that the missions to the moon will illuminate the mysteries of the lunar rocks. The 8 stars reflect that this is NASA's 8th mission to attempt a lunar landing.

Commander
Richard Gordon

CMP
Vance Brand

LMP
Dr.Harrison 'Jack' Schmitt

Richard Gordon, with Capcom Joe Allen on his left, in the MCC during one of the Apollo 15 moonwalks.

In 1969, Apollo 18 was scheduled to land in the Schroter's Valley area of the moon during February 1972. The valley is thought to be a collapsed lava tube that begins in highlands and finishes near the lowland mare material. Once the lava drained away the tube collapsed leaving the valley we see today. The beginning of the valley was formed when the chimney from which the lava emerged from below the surface collapsed in on itself. The fact that the opportunity to explore Schroter's Valley, an area of isolated highland in a expanse of mare, was abandoned can only leave the space enthusiast wondering about the lost chance to visit one of the most fascinating sites on the moon.

Schroter's Valley is the largest sinuous valley on the moon's nearside at 160 km in length.

The two large craters south of the beginning of the valley are, on the left, Herodotus Crater and Aristarchus Crater to its right.

The initial opening is 6 km in width and the valley reaches a maximum depth of about 1000 m.

While Brand and Schmitt wait there turn, commander Richard Gordon is assisted into the Command Module during Apollo 15 backup training.

Gordon, left, and Schmitt train to collect lunar samples.

Schmitt, left, and Gordon practice on the special lunar surface training area in July 1971.

Richard Gordon drives the lunar roving training vehicle.

Gordon during geology training.

When asked about his chances of walking on the moon after his Apollo 12 flight, Richard Gordon replied:

"I assumed that I would have another opportunity to go back and walk on the lunar surface and would have, if all things being equal, because I then rotated after Apollo 12 as the back up commander for Apollo 15. Here the three flight rotation cycle comes in again and that being the case I would have flown as commander on Apollo 18, well the whole World knows that 17 was the last flight to the moon."

On training for Apollo 18 he said:

"I trained to fly the LEM as a back up commander on Apollo 15 and was ready to do so. I did not train for 18, Apollo 15 flew in July 1971 and then after that flight I was no longer assigned to a flight crew. Since 18 was no longer to be flown, the Skylab missions and ASTP were under raps I retired in January of 72. There were no more flights to be had so it was sayonara time."

On the cancellation of the Saturn V moon rocket Gordon said:

"Right now I think those involved with the space program wish they had a Saturn V to put up 230,000lbs in near Earth orbit."

I had the privilage to meet Richard Gordon on 19th May 2001 and I asked him about Apollo 18. He told me that he had not trained for the mission because it was cancelled before he was officially assigned to it, he also told me that no names for the spacecraft had been chosen either. When asked about his lost chance to walk on the moon he smiled and said:

"Sure I would have loved to have crossed those last 60 miles and walked on the moon."

Richard Gordon
May 19th 2001

When Apollo 20 was cancelled in January 1970, the Apollo 18 mission was put back with the Gassendi Crater as a possible landing site but on September 2nd 1970 the mission was finally cancelled due to congressional budget cuts for NASA's FY 1971.

Although the hardware was built and the team to send them to the moon was in place the crew was never officially assigned to Apollo 18 and the mission was cancelled. The three men who would have flown it went their separate ways, Richard Gordon clung to the hope that NASA didn't like to split up its crews and so his crew would get assigned to Apollo 17, when this failed he resigned in 1972.
Vance Brand replaced Jack Swigert as CMP on the ASTP mission and then went on to make a couple of flights aboard the space shuttle. Jack Schmitt tried to push for a landing on the lunnar farside in a bid to relight the publics interest in Apollo but when that failed the fact that he was the only trained geologist amongst the astronauts meant that he was named as the LMP on the final moonflight.

Apart from finances the other factor for the cancellation was the recent Apollo 13 emergency that had left a feeling of unease amongst some NASA management regarding the continued exploration of the moon. The feeling was that if they did lose a crew during a lunar flight then the whole manned space program could be scrapped so Apollo would end after only 4 more flights.

In his book "Last Man On The Moon" Gene Cernan says:

The fear of losing a crew of astronauts in space replaced the daring that started the program and the brush with disaster took much of the backbone right out of some of NASA's leaders. They concluded that the best way not to have astronauts die going to the moon was not to send them out there in the first place."

Harald Urey, the lunar scientist, wrote in the Washington Post:

"We wish to finish a job which has beautifully begun and now we get stingy. Because of the additional cost of 25 cents per year for each of us, we are dropping the final two flights to the moon. How foolish and shortsighted from the view of history can we be?"

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