New post at Air & Space: Gordon Swann, Geology Teacher to the Astronauts

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Paul Spudis

I have a new post over at Smithsonian Air & Space about my good friend, Gordon Swann, who passed away last week.  Gordon was the PI of the field geology team for the Apollo 13, 14 and 15 missions and developed many of the procedures for collecting samples on the Moon.  He was a great guy and he will be missed.

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3 Responses to New post at Air & Space: Gordon Swann, Geology Teacher to the Astronauts

  1. DougSpace says:
    June 3, 2014 at 8:21 pm

    Dr. Spudis. Regarding conducting lunar geology, you have probably weighed in before about the robots versus humans for geology on planetary surfaces before but would you mind giving us your thoughts here? Also, once sufficient propellant is produced from lunar sources to refuel the lander to achieve orbital and greater velocities, it seems to me that a lander could hop all over the lunar surface, discharge a teleoperated rover and obtain and return samples from any number of fascinating lunar sites. Yes?

    • Paul Spudis says:
      June 4, 2014 at 2:54 am

      I have written on this topic on a couple of occasions, including these posts:

      Human Spaceflight: What Value to Science Part 1

      Human Spaceflight: What Value to Science Part 2

      Robotic Sample Return

      I think that teleoperations have great potential for future geologic work, but that some complex field sites and problems will require human presence.

  2. billgamesh says:
    June 4, 2014 at 4:17 pm

    My condolences on the loss of your friend and fellow geologist.

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