“An American Success Story shows Astronaut
John Young in April of 1972 as he stood proudly on the moon,” says artist
Alan Bean,“but for a while, it didn’t look like he and Charlie Duke would
even land. Orbiting the moon in their lunar module preparing for descent, a
call came reporting an oscillation in the backup steering system. They knew
that this might force them to return to earth as soon as possible. If the
systems failed, the Apollo 16 and her crew would orbit the moon forever.
Immediately, mission control was
alerted. Could they determine if oscillations would prevent the backup
steering system from doing its job? Records were searched and tests
conducted, in less than six hours the results were in: the mission could
continue. We all breathed a collective sigh of relief. John Young would say
later,“It was a cliff-hanger, but the ground crew really came through,
putting us right back in the ball game.”
I have painted Dave Scott, a good friend
and skilled explorer, at the pinnacle of his astronaut career. In his own
words, “We went to the Moon as trained observers in order to gather data,
not only with our instruments on board, but also with our minds. Plutarch, a
wise man who lived a long time ago, expressed the feelings of the crew of
Apollo 15 when he wrote ‘the mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire
to be lighted."
“Here we are, humans of planet Earth,
standing on our only moon. Getting there wasn’t easy; in fact, it took about
four hundred thousand of us giving our best efforts. None could do it alone
but together we found a way to achieve this seemingly impossible dream. When
the time is right, we will be ready to continue our noble quest to expand
humanity’s reach. Our children and our children’s children will have to
continue the search, each succeeding generation moving a little farther out,
discovering more answers and even greater questions. The Universe awaits our
audacious human spirit. Be patient...we are coming.”
“This relaxed, impressionist astronaut
image is one of my favorites,” says Bean. “I felt just like this so many
times on the moon—even though I didn’t have time to stop and ‘assume the
position.’ I think it takes a certain attitude of cockiness to be an
astronaut, and it’s hard to show those emotions when I am behind the gold
visors.”
The Apollo program was not only about
getting to the moon and back, but making the best possible scientific
observations once there. "Do we take test pilots and teach them geology or
do we take geologists and teach them to fly?" was the question. The answer,
in typical NASA fashion, was to create a team of both. This image of Apollo
17 Commander and skilled naval aviator Eugene A. Cernan handing yet another
sample bag to Lunar Module Pilot and Doctor of Geology Harrison "Jack"
Schmitt on the Taurus-Littrow Valley floor, represents the epitome of this
exploration philosophy. On December 13, 1972, when Gene and Jack left the
moon, they carried with them 240 pounds of lunar samples-more than any other
mission could boast. Image size: 25 1/4"w x 161/2"h, published from the
artist's original acrylic painting. 550 signed by the artist and
consecutively numbered.
The moon’s lack of atmosphere provided the
ideal conditions to confirm what Galileo Galilei had concluded centuries
before, as both hammer and feather, dropped simultaneously, contacted the
moon’s surface at the same time.
