The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 14

1 1 a THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, SUNDAY MORNING. APRIL 19, 1970 ANALYSIS Moon Mission Delays Likely as U. S. Reviews Program By HOWARD BENEDICT HOUSTON, April 18 (AP). Apollo 13, crippled by an oxygen tark explosion, was limping back toward the safety of earth Tuesday when commander James A.

Lovell Jr. said to the ground: "I'm afraid this is going to be the last moon mission for awhile." Lovell undoubtedly is right. Even if the cause of the explosion turns out to be something simple to fix, safety dictates that there must be a delay There will have to be redesign, and additional backup systems may have to be built because everything must be as nearly perfect as possible before man again flies to the moon. A review board will analyze all aspects of the tank failure that aborted man's third moon landing attempt and forced Lovell; Fred W. Haise Jr.

and John L. Swigert Jr. to fight for survival for four days, maintaining life with the systems of their lunar module. In the wake of the Apollo 13 near-disaster, Sen. William Proxmire, Wis.) called for an end to the manned space flight program.

He said more emphasis should be put on exploration with unmanned craft. But the chairmen of the Senate and House space committees, Sen. Clinton P. Anderson N. and Rep.

George Miller said manned space exploration should continue. Both said their committees will hold hearings on the Apollo 13 flight in the near future. The Apollo 13 Review Board, headed by Edgar M. Cort-right, director of NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, will be given all the time it needs to investigate the After the Apollo 1 fire, a review board conducted a 10-week investigation. Even though it had the charred spaceship to examine, it was not able to pinpoint the exact cause of the flash fire.

It said the most likely cause was a short circuit in wiring under the couch, of the mission commander, astronaut Virgil I. Grissom. The board scored the space agency and its prime contractor for poor workmanship and management. The Apollo ship was redesigned and management overhauled, with a delay of 21 months before man flew the first Apollo mission. The effort paid off with six flawless manned Apollo missions in 13 months, including two landings on the moon.

Apollo 13 broke the string. The Apollo 13 board won't have the accident source to examine, as did the Apollo 1 board. The explosion occurred in a service module that was jettisoned before the astronauts re-entered the atmosphere. So experts will have to study telemetry records on the performance of the oxygen tank, which showed a sudden loss of pressure. Preliminary analysis indicates that the pressure buildup might have been caused by a short circuit in either a fan or a heater associated with the system.

But officials emphasize that weeks may be required to make a definite assessment. The command ship lost its main oxygen and power supplies, except for auxiliary systems used for re-entry. The lunar module and the skill of the astronauts and thousands of experts on the ground saved the astronauts. All three would have died if Lovell and Haise had landed on the moon as planned and the accident had occurred while Swigert was orbiting alone. The same would have been true if the moon landing had taken place and the spacemen had started back to earth after discarding the lunar module.

Protecting future astronauts against such emergencies with redundant systems will have to be considered in a redesign of the Apollo craft. The Apollo 14 spaceship already is in place atop a Saturn 5 rocket in a Cape Kennedy assembly building. The present launch date is Oct. 1. with America's first spaceman, Alan B.

Shepard in command. The launch date certainly is in jeopardy. Among other things, NASA may consider changing the landing site on the moon. Apollo 13 was to have landed in theancient highlands of Fra Mauro, where they hoped to collect rocks dating to the creation of the moon and perhaps the solar system. Apollo 14's site is a scries of rilles in a place called Littrow Rim.

Fra Mauro is more interesting scientifically, and the Shepard crew may be retrained for the highland landing. tW Tz Brilliant Rainbow Over Happy Hawaii AP Wirephot to Honolulu, where their Samoan natives perform ritual dance of welcome for Apollo 13 astronauts at Pago Pago Saturday. The astronauts paused on Pago Pago after leaving the carrier Iwo 3 Astronauts Get Heroes' Welcome to Hawaii oute en families will join its appointment moon, the flight tremely valuable with the was "ex-Swigert said. "What it taught us was that perhaps sometimes we get a little complacent when flights go exactly as they are supposed to. We need to take a look at our systems and our training.

Perhaps we need to review some things we haven't thought about in a long time. "It was a pretty shaky situation. The battle was won by all those special procedures they worked up fo us." Mr. Nixon stopped en route at the Manned Spacecraft Cen Enthusiastic youngster waves Flag above crowd President Nixon passes on way to space center in Houston, where medal for Apollo workers was presented. Samoa Greets Spacemen Lovell Admits Doubts AboutReturn toEarth Appears Reunion HONOLULU, April 18.

A brilliant rainbow rose Saturday as America's three astronauts from Apollo 13 embraced their loved ones. Mrs. Marilyn Lovell, wife of the Apollo 13 commander, James A. Lovell Mrs. Mary Haise, wife of Fred W.

Haise and the parents of bachelor John L. Swigert Jr. threw their arms around the astronauts as they stepped from the plane that flew them here from Pago Pago. Prsident Nixon and his wife, Pat, stood smiling nearby as the wives and parents welcomed the astronauts first. As the men alighted from a silver Air Force jet, hula girls swayed to island melodies.

FLOWERED LEIS All the women in the welcoming party wore the traditional Hawaiian flowered leis. Mrs. Haise, seven months pregnant and wearing a blue maternity dress, and Mrs. Lovell, dressed in red, white and blue, beamed as the President awarded their husbands and Swigert the Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor. On the flight from Houston, Mr.

Nixon good-naturedly kidded Mrs. Haise about her condition. She spent much of the flight resting in the President's cabin. A 'FIRST' 'We're concerned about firsts in this Administration and I told hr we'd like to have the first baby around Air Force said Mr. Nixon.

"The doctor was ready but she would not cooperate." The two wives stood together and smiled as the attractive hula girls gave their husbands a kiss and flower leis. When asked about future space flights for her husband, Mrs. Haise said, "I hope he does get to go again." But Mrs. Lovell just shrugged and smiled. Lovell.

who has logged 715 hours of space flight, said before the launch of Apollo 13 that this was his last mission. He is ready to retire from the space program. WATCH PRESENTATION President Nixon had picked up the wives and Dr. and Mrs. L.

Leonard Swigert at Houston and brought them to Honolulu to watch the medal presentation. From the airport the astronauts and their families went by car to the Ilikai Hotel, threaded their way through about 100 cheering persons in the lobby and went straight to their rooms. The Apollo astronauts touched American soil for the first time Saturday following a helicopter ride from the aircraft carrier Iwo Jim a to Pago Pago on American Samoa. After a brief stopover, they went by jet to Honolulu. While at Pago Pago, the astronauts received shell leis ton Windier and Donald chief Sigurd A.

Sjoberg. Hawaii, Lovell, who has logged more hours in space than any other astronaut, had said: "Coming back from Apollo 8 at Christmas in 1968, I remembered how much we don't realize what we have on earth until we leave it. "Looking back at all the color in the world, at the ocean and the earth, the blues and the browns of land and sky, you realize that the earth really is unique," Lovell said, echoing the comments he made on the Apollo 8 flight around the moon. "This time, looking back and feeling just that much farther out, I was not too sure where we would end." To him, the moon seemed endless thousands of miles from earth on this flight. "I have been there before, but never have I been quite that far away before." Swigert also spoke about the voyage to members of the recovery team before leaving the USS Iwo Jima and flying to Hawaii via Pago Pago.

"I guess the best thing was getting out of the spaceship in the water. It was something that sometimes we thought we'd never see. "You cannot describe the barrenness and ruggedness of the moon. Some day I hope you all get there yourselves," he said. Although Apollo 13 missed on the ground before taking off for Honolulu to meet Mr.

Nixon and receive the nation's highest civilian award, the Medal of Freedom. One of the first sights to greet the three men when they stepped from the helicopters at the airport was a large sign welcoming Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, first men to walk on the moon. Haydon explained it was a backdrop for one of the plays in the anniversary celebration and that there had been no time to prepare anything else. In addition to the official greetings here, there was a band from the village of Laulii on hand and more than 30 Polynesian maidens to dance the siva siva, the traditional dance of the island. Continued from irst Page to Honolulu and perhaps President Nixon will OK it." Lovell recalled his remarks on the Apollo 8 flight about the beautiful earth and said: ''When you get out there, you realize it's all there in this one small planet." As he spoke he was gazing at the green volcanic mountains and waving palms of this patch of American territory south of the equator.

"What you have you don't really grasp until it's taken away and we certainly are happy to be back." Haise added: "There's no question we've gone through an experience that will be with us a lifetime." The astronauts, who arrived here aboard separate helicopters, spent nearly an hour Text of Citations Text of the Medal of Freedom citations awarded the Apollo 13 astronauts by President Nixon: Adversity brings out the character of a man. Confronted suddenly and unexpectedly with grave peril in the far reaches of space, he demonstrated a calm courage and quiet heroism that stands as an example to men everywhere. His safe return is a triumph of the human spirit of those special Qualities of man himself we rely on when machines fail, and that we rely on also for those things that machines cannot' do. From the start, the exploration of space has been hazardous adventure. The voyage of Apollo 13 dramatized its risks.

The men of Apollo 13, by their poise and skill under the most intense kind of pressure, epitomized the character that accepts danger and surmounts it. Theirs is the spirit that built America. With gratitude and admiration. America salutes their spirit and achievement. them.

ter at Houston, to pick up the astronauts' relatives and present the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, to the Apollo 13's ground controllers, the men whose split second calculations brought the astronauts home safely. As a crowd of 2500 stood on a grassy area near the space center headquarters building on a gloomy, humid day, Mr. Nixon presented the Medal of Freedom to the ground controllers. A model of the lunar landed Aquarius was in the background. AP Wirephoto Continued from First Page other human, said earlier, on the recovery ship: "Coming back to Apollo 8 at Christmas in 1963, 1 remembered how much we don't realize what we have on earth until we leave it.

"Looking back at all the color in the world, at the ocean and the earth, the blues and browns of land and sky, you realize that the earth really is unique." 'NOT TOO SURE' Lovell, who said before the flight this was his last mission, compared this with his earler moon flight: "This time looking back and feeling just that much farther out, I was not too sure where we would end." "I guess the best thing was getting out of the spaceship in the water. It was something that sometimes we thought we'd never see." SAILORS THANKED "You cannot describe the barrenness and ruggedness of the moon. "Some day I hope you all get there yourselves," he told recovery team members. The flight from Houston to Honolulu was a busy one on the Presidential plane. While Mrs.

Nixon lunched with the wives of Lovell and Haise, the parents of Swigert rested. Afterwards, Mrs. Haise took Slayton, and operations a nap in the Presidential stateroom she is expecting in June. "We're concerned about firsts in this administration," Mr. Nixon said with a smile, "and we'd like to have the first baby aboard Air Fore One." For the women there were gifts of gold Presidential seals encircled by pearls and for Dr.

J. Leonard Swigert, Presidential seal cufflinks. TIME TO RELAX Mr. Nixon expressed his concern that the astronauts get some time to relax and ease up as soon as their debriefing is over, perhaps at some spot in Florida, the Virgin Islands or even Camp David, Md. "They were under constant pressure for these days like no one else ever was," Mr.

Nixon said. He said Lovell lost 14 pounds and Haise somewhat less. "In a battle on the ground," he said, "you can take a break." MORE MESSAGES Presidential press secretary Ronald Ziegler said Mr. Nixon noted that there not only had been more messages from heads of state in connection with the Apollo 13 flight, but also a different tone from those that were sparked by the Apollo 11 and 12 ventures. Messages following previous space flights complimented the technical achievement and their success, but the ones this time "reflect more of the feeling from the heart that people from throughout the world associated with the men in space," Ziegler said.

In presenting the gifts to his guests, Mr. Nixon told them: "These are only for very important people very courageous people." CONTROLLERS CITED Stopping briefly in Houston, the President conferred the Medal of Freedom on the ground crew that handled the flight of Apollo 13. He was sure, the President said, the Apollo 13 astronauts felt that "never have so few owed so much to so many." Meanwhile, doctors said that Haise had shed the low fever that accompanied the urinary tract infection he brought back from space. He was prone to the infection, doctors said, because of the fatigue and lack of drinking water on the stricken space mission. The astronauts were helicoptered to Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa, and flown by jet from there to Hawaii for the reunion.

Simultaneously, the President and the families flew from Houston to Hawaii. Before leaving Samoa for his triumphal arrival in 9 Apollo 13 astronaut Fred W. Haise Jr. is about to be hoisted to recovery helicopter after leaving spacecraft in South Pacific. Aawiting their turns are astronauts John L.

Swigert Jr. (center) anuth Pacific. Awaiting their turns are as-recovery operation is a member of the underwater demolition team. Admiring Medal of Freedom president by President Nixon to Apollo 13 astronauts and ground crew arc (left to right) flight directors Gerald Griffin, Mil-.