The Moon Man

One of the only four living moonwalkers, Charles Moss Duke recalls his penultimate moon mission, and shares his enthusiasm with Neeta Lal about the first woman who will soon land on the Moon

The family picture Duke left on the Moon

Charles Duke. PHOTO BY AUTHOR

“I was over the moon!” laughs former NASA astronaut and moonwalker Charles Moss Duke when asked to recall his feelings on stepping on the lunar surface over 50 years ago during the Apollo 16 mission. As the youngest person to do so at 36 years on April 27, 1972, the legendary NASA astronaut says he still holds that record “though I wish someone had broken it by now”. One of the only 12 men to ever walk on the moon, the 86-year-old was the star speaker at the 6th Starmus Festival, held recently in Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia. The multi-day international celebration of science and culture brought together scientists, engineers, astronauts and Nobel Laureates from all over the world to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first soft landing on Mars by “Mars 3” and the first orbiter “Mariner 9”.

Duke, who is currently one of the only four living moonwalkers, delivered a lecture about the Apollo programmes. “Today I feel as young as the astronaut who walked on the moon at the age of 36,” Duke said sharing his experiences of staying on the moon for over 20 hours. Duke’s Apollo 16 mission — commanded by John Young, along with himself as the Lunar Module Pilot and Command Module Pilot Ken Mattingly is remembered for many things.

Not only was it the first to land in the lunar highlands, but it also scooped out the oldest rock samples — whose age is estimated to be around 4.4 billion years old. Duke’s team did three moonwalks in the Descartes highlands to seek the volcanic rocks for which they had received months of geology training. The trio also mixed business with pleasure. Since 1972 was an Olympic year, they came up with the unique idea of doing “Moon Olympics”. “We did our own version of the high jump and a record attempt — at how we could leap in one-sixth gravity,” shares Duke who retired as a Brigadier General in the US army.

The attempt wasn’t all fun and games though as the astronaut weighed a whopping 170 kg with all his gear even though his lunar weight was only 25 kg. So when Duke jumped, he lost his balance and tumbled backwards. “It was a moment of fear,” recalls the moonwalker, his memories of half a century ago still fresh. “But fear is not a bad emotion if you can overcome it. It motivates you to push yourself. And that’s what happened to me.”

Recalling how his hammer also fell on the moon’s surface while collecting rock and soil samples, Duke says it was “tough” to lift it up again.

“Understanding gravity is not at all easy, but that’s what discipline and training are for. And we had months of it at NASA,” adds Duke who travelled around 5 km at a speed of 17 km per hour. “Maintaining body temperature on the moon is also fraught with challenges and saving myself was a daily battle,” he remembers.

No stranger to challenging moments in his stellar career, Duke is also commended for his crucial role as Capcom — the spacecraft communicator — during the dramatic landing of Apollo 11. His crew was several miles off course, grappling with computer overload alarms while also running low on fuel. The lunar module touched down on the surface with less than 30 seconds’ fuel remaining in the tanks! Proud of being a “family man”, Duke’s wife Dorothy Meade Claiborne is a constant companion on his various travels around the world when he delivers motivational talks. The couple resides in Texas and have also co-authored the book Moonwalker and also produced two videos/DVDs Moonwalker and Walk on the Moon, Walk with the Son.

Given his strong family bonds, it was hardly surprising that Duke left a memorable token behind on the moon — a family photo. “On the back of the photo, we’d written ‘This is the family of astronaut Charlie Duke from planet Earth who landed on the moon in April 1972’. And we all signed it.” Although it would have disintegrated now, Duke says it’s an indelible memory as it’s the only family photo to make it on the Moon.

Though Duke says he doesn’t “follow the latest developments on space and lunar programmes,” he is “thrilled” that the United States is getting back into deep space exploration with a new generation of astronauts and new lunar missions, such as the Artemis programme. A supporter of women’s rights, he adds that he is happy that the mission plans to land the first woman and person of colour on the Moon. An avid traveller, Duke recalls his visits to India fondly when he visited Jaipur, Agra, Chennai, Mumbai, Vijayawada and Kolkata. “Awed” by Taj Mahal’s beauty, he says he also loved interacting with students at a local college in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh in 2019.

So what is his message to today’s youth? “The three Ps — Planning, Practice, Performance — are indispensable to one’s success,” he says. “Thanks to NASA, these traits were inculcated in me. So I encourage all youngsters to do the same; work hard, get educated and stay focused. Only then can they aim for the moon!”

Is there gender parity on the Moon?

The fact that the landing of women on the Moon is still discussed through a gendered lens — a “woman” landing on the moon, as opposed to simply an “astronaut” — shows the clear gender inequality that still exists. That NASA’s latest mission to the Moon is named after an ancient lunar goddess turned feminist icon, Artemis, is no wonder seen as “mere tokenism” by many as no woman has yet walked on the Moon!

Helga, Zohar to show the way...

Even as Artemis I, NASA’s mission to the Moon has been deferred due to a tropical storm, whenever the big date arrives in the near future, on board the Orion space capsule will be two special passengers — Helga and Zohar. These ‘Phantom’ mannequins will mimic human bones, soft tissues, and the internal organs of an adult female. The mannequins will map radiation exposure levels throughout the body. Zohar, specifically, will wear a radiation protection vest designed to protect the real astronauts slated for future Artemis missions — including the first women to go to the moon. The third mannequin on the Artemis will be Moonikin Campos. Over the years, researchers have been collecting data on how sex differences might influence astronauts’ health in space but the information has been very limited. With Helga and Zohar now making the trip, NASA hopes to make progress on this front. Going beyond short-term conditions and changes to bodies, a lot of the focus on human health out in space is focused on exposure to cosmic radiation from stars and galactic explosions. Some calculations suggest that the radiation exposure rate on the moon is about 2.6 times higher than that experienced by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Here are some more observations:

Most of the data currently available shows a pattern of female survivors being more susceptible to developing lung cancer than male ones.

With radiation coming from all angles in space, devising a physical barrier like a spacesuit or protective vest can be tricky. It makes understanding how all human organs are affected by radiation exposure important — whether they be sex-specific reproductive organs or not.

Back in 2020, a female astronaut developed a blood clot while on the ISS prompting an investigation into whether the use of hormonal contraceptives for menstrual cycle control increased the risk of clotting during space flights. A review of 38 female astronaut flights published later that year concluded that it does not. But considering the small sample size, it left many unanswered questions about hormonal birth control pills increasing one’s risk of developing blood clots.

Women did better than their male counterparts whose eyesight seemed to be more affected by swelling around the optic nerve in zero gravity than female astronauts’.

Having said that, female astronauts have statistically experienced greater orthostatic intolerance (the inability to stand without fainting for a long period of time) upon returning to Earth.

Helga and Zohar should be able to come back with more about all these and also about how women handle menstruation in microgravity!
(Agencies)