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Ulrich, G. E.

Publications and source records attributed to Ulrich, G. E..

11 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1980

Mission objectives for geological exploration of the Apollo 16 landing site

The objectives of the Apollo 16 mission to delineate the nature and origin of two major physiographic units of the central lunar highlands are discussed. Surface exploration plans, specific sampling procedures, operational constraints, and suites of samples that were collected for specific local objectives are described. Pre-mission hypotheses that favored a volcanic origin for the Cayley plains as well as the Descartes mountains were proved to be wrong by the mission results, but not enough samples have been studied to draw any other definite conclusions. Two contrasting schools of thought about the origin of the Apollo fragmental impact deposits are described: one maintains that the samples are predominantly of local origin, while the other suggests more distant, basin-related sources.

Muehlberger, W. R.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Apollo 12 Voice Transcript Pertaining to the Geology of the Landing Site, Volume 2

An edited record of the conversions between the Apollo 12 astronauts and mission control pertaining to the geology of the landing site, is presented. All discussions and observations documenting the lunar landscape, its geologic characteristics, the rocks and soils collected and the lunar surface photographic record are included along with supplementary remarks essential to the continuity of events during the mission.

Bailey, N. G.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Geology of the Taurus-Littrow valley floor

The paper surveys the geology of the Taurus-Littrow valley which is located in a graben that is radial to Mare Serenitatis. The basalt fill is characterized; basalt extrusion in the valley continued until about 3.7 b.y. ago and was quickly followed by deposition of glass beads that formed a mantling unit of probable pyroclastic origin. The glass-bead unit in combination with the overlying regolith forms an unconsolidated surficial deposit with an average thickness of about 14 m. The components of the regolith are described. It is thought that most of the craters are part of a secondary cluster formed by projectiles from Tycho. Age estimates for the central cluster and the light mantle are presented.

Wolfe, E. W.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Geologic setting of Apollo 16

Prior to the Apollo 16 mission, the materials of the Cayley Plains and the Descartes Mountains were thought to be mostly of volcanic origin. Rock and soil samples from these regions strongly suggest, however, that they may be products of multiring basin forming impacts, although minor local volcanism is not precluded. The smooth planar surfaces may have been formed initially by Imbrium ejecta which flowed into topographic lows at the distal margins of the lineated Fra Mauro ejecta. It is emphasized, however, that the rocks and soils returned from the Apollo 16 site cannot necessarily be considered representative of the lunar crust in the Descartes region from which they were collected.

Hodges, C. A.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Preliminary description of Apollo 15 sample environments

Approximately 78 kg of lunar rock and soil samples were returned by Apollo 15. The rather complete documentation of the locations of nearly all of the samples allows for relating the samples to the specific and detailed geologic environments from which they were collected. This is especially important in an area as geologically complex as the Hadley-Apennine site. All of the material presented was derived from the pre-mission photogeologic maps, lunar surface television video tapes, air-to-ground transcript and crew debriefings, photographs taken on the lunar surface by the Apollo 15 crew, and information supplied by the Lunar Sample Preliminary Examination team from which the samples were categorized into groups consisting of, broadly, basalts and breccias. The breccias are considered loosely in terms of coherent breccias and soil breccias.

Swann, G. A.↗