(1)
KU professor waits for moon dust
Lunar materials can support base station
By GREG SORBER
Kansan Staff Writer
Raw materials on the lunar surface could be used for a self-supporting base station on the moon, a University of Kansas geology professor said Thursday.
Dr. Edward Zellar performed an experiment which released water from silica material similar to the composition of lunar soil.
He is still waiting to receive lunar samples from the NASA control center in Houston in order to execute the experiment with original lunar material.
"I am quite confident that we will get the sample," Zellar said. "We did not get the sample yet because of extremely tight distribution problems."
His experiment showed two kinds of potential resources can be derived from the moon's soil. The first resource is water; the
12 KANSAN Feb. 6
1970
second is stored energy. The heat produced by the stored energy could warm a base station through the lunar nights, which last 14 days.
Zellar said the lunar dust stores energy when particles emitted by the sun strike the silica on the moon. The crystal structure then becomes disordered. When he executes his experiment, he will be doing essentially the same thing as the sun, firing high energy protons at the dust. The silica crystals will become even more disordered.
When heat is applied, the crystals will snap back into their original shape, producing a great amount of heat energy, considerably more than was originally put into the dust, Zellar said.
When TNT explodes, he explained, it releases 1,000 calories.
The lunar dust stores over 200 calories per gram, one-fifth of the energy of TNT.
"You do not get an explosion, just high temperatures," Zellar said.
The men on the first permanent moon base will have to live off the land, Zellar said. It is just too expensive to transport material up to the moon.
The lunar base will live with minimum support from the earth. The process of obtaining water and energy has been shown to work, and there is no reason it couldn't be done on the moon, he said.
There are two problems Zellar will encounter in working with the lunar sample. The moon dust will be an impure, complex mixture and will be more difficult to work with than the fundamental earth materials. He also fears that the dust will be contaminated by the retro-rockets of the Apollo 12 lunar module and the earlier unmanned surveyor.
"In other words, we're facing the problem of lunar pollution," Zellar said.
risk of pollution than Apollo 12. He will receive the samples from Apollo 12 instead. A proposal will be submitted for samples from the Apollo 14 mission, he said.
He said his request for lunar samples was for the dust from Apollo 13. It would involve less
NASA's distribution policy. Formerly every milligram of lunar dust had to be accounted for.
"The Apollo 12 rocks," he added, "have not been distributed. In fact no lunar rock has been distributed. It's all in Houston."
Zellar said it now is too expensive to have such control over the material. The budget reduction in Washington changed the situation, and he expects the dust to be distributed soon.
None of the universities that requested the samples have received them. He attributes this to
Colorado gets its name from the Spanish word for "red."
DO IT ALL
BUT DO IT NOW JAYHAWKER SENIOR PICTURES LAST CHANCE
ENGINEERS, MATHEMATICIANS:
... where imagination is the essential qualification.
Because of the nature and scope of the National Security Agency's mission, our successes are in direct relation to your achievements.
At NSA, we are responsible for designing and developing secure/invulnerable communications and EDP systems to transmit, receive and analyze much of our nation's most vital information. The advancing technologies applied in this work are such that they will frequently take you beyond the known and accepted boundaries of knowledge. Consequently, your imagination and resourcefulness are essential qualifications for success.
The Career Scene at NSA: ENGINEERS will find work which is performed nowhere else . . . devices and systems are constantly being developed which are in advance of any outside the Agency. As an Agency engineer, you will carry out research, design, development, testing and evaluation of sophisticated, large-scale cryptocommunICATIONs and EDP systems. You may also participate in related studies of electromagnetic propagation, upper atmosphere phenomena, and solid state devices using the latest equipment for advanced research within NSA's fully instrumented laboratories.
MATHEMATICIANS define, formulate and solve complex communications-related problems. Statistical mathematics, matrix algebra, and combinatorial analysis are but a few of the tools applied by Agency mathematicians. Opportunities for contributions in computer sciences and theoretical research are also offered.
COMPUTER SCIENTISTS participate in systems analysis and systems programming related to advanced scientific and business applications. Software design and development is included, as well as support in hardware design, development and modification.
Career Benefits: NSA's liberal graduate study program permits you to pursue two semesters of full-time graduate study at full salary. Nearly all academic costs are borne by NSA, whose proximity to seven universities is an additional asset.
Starting salaries, depending on education and experience, range from $9,169.00 to $15,000.00, and increases will follow systematically as you assume additional responsibility. Further, you will enjoy the varied career benefits and other advantages of Federal employment without the necessity of Civil Service certification.
Check with your Placement Office for further information about NSA, or write to: Chief, College Relations Branch, National Security Agency, Ft. George G. Meade, Md. 20755, Attn: M321. An equal opportunity employer, M&F.
Campus Interview Dates: February 20,1970
national security agency
1