Bill Muehlberger, PI of the Apollo 16 Lunar Geology Experiment, acting the part of astronaut along with Fred Haise NASA photo S-71-39860. The cragged formations were a testament to the power of tectonics, while the shifts in stratigraphic layers showed how the geology of different eras built the landscape of today. William Muehlberger Field Geology Lead on Earth and the Moonįor nearly four decades, Jackson School of Geosciences Professor William Muehlberger took geology undergraduates from UT into the dry desert mountains of West Texas as part of the school’s annual summer field camp. As we honor this year’s 50-year milestone of Apollo 11, the first mission to land on the moon, get to know the UT geoscientists who were part of history then, and those who are making it now. And the impact of UT geoscientists on training astronauts didn’t end with Apollo. Weighing in at 26 pounds, it ended up being the heaviest rock brought back from the moon.īut Muehlberger wasn’t the only geoscientist from The University of Texas at Austin involved with historic moon missions. And for his service - or perhaps insistence that the astronauts lug the rock back to Earth - the sample collected on the Plum Crater’s edge was named “Big Muley” in his honor.
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He taught the astronaut crews how to conduct field work on the moon by practicing at sites here on Earth. The Muehlberger he’s referring to is UT geology Professor William Muehlberger, who served as the principal investigator for field geology for the Apollo 16 and 17 moon missions. (You can watch the scene for yourself at: ) “If I fall in the Plum Crater getting this rock, Muehlberger has had it,” Duke says in a miffed tone as he walks off with the rock and the clip comes to a close.
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And when Duke bends down to collect it, he audibly heaves as he hoists it up with his one free hand. The rock is bulky and easily visible even on the grainy footage. You got it right there,” a voice from Mission Control confirms. “This one right here?,” Duke asks to Mission Control as he approaches the rock, carefully scooting closer and closer to the crater’s edge. Young moves about in the background, while Duke takes two little hops toward a gray, lumpy rock near the rim of a crater. BY MONICA KORTSHA Astronaut Charles Duke collecting Big Muley.Ī video recording from the NASA archives starts like this: Apollo 16 astronauts Charles Duke and John Young are ambling across the moon. UT geoscientists taught them what to look for and helped shape the science of lunar geology and geophysics for decades to come. From Earth to the Moon It's been 50 years since astronauts first walked on the moon.