On a visit to Canela, Charles Duke recalls his routine on Apollo 16 and what it was like to step on the Moon

Canela experienced a historic moment this Tuesday afternoon (9): the presence of Charles Moss Duke Jr, the tenth astronaut of the US space agency Nasa, who had the opportunity to step on the moon.

He was at the inauguration of the new Space Adventure theme park, which has a partnership contract with the American institution and provides a collection of more than 300 items from space missions.

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During the chat, Duke presented a little of his history and the participation he had in the projects. In 1969, he was the capcom of the Apollo 11 mission, that is, the space agency professional who communicates instantly with astronauts in space.

On the occasion, which was broadcast on television around the world, his sentence: "Understood, Tranquility Base, we received your message from the ground. You made a lot of guys turn blue around here. We can breathe again. Thank you very much", became known when responding Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, when they announced that they had landed on the moon.

But it was in 1972 that he also had the opportunity to experience what it was like to step out of the spacecraft and feel the rocky lunar soil. He was the tenth man and the youngest person to have walked on the moon. At the time, aged 36, he was a pilot of the Lunar Module Orion, on the Apollo 16 mission. Duke was stationed there for three days.

Watch video of the new tourist attraction

Memories and stories

For Duke, a park with a large number of historical objects and that brings information not only from the past, but also from the future, will only add to the knowledge that is shared with the public. "This will stimulate many, many children and parents to take advantage of and get to know this great exhibition. It may serve as inspiration for their professional life in the future", points out the astronaut.

For about 45 minutes, the former space agent told stories and recalled memories. Among the biggest challenges of his career, he says that of the 11 days of the Apollo 16 mission, the moon landing was the most complicated.

"We had photos taken from Apollo 14, from the place where we were going to land. But the resolution of the photographs did not measure craters smaller than 15 meters. Each mission landed in a specific location and we trained to land near this large crater. And when we started to see the smaller, that surprised us. We had to look for a place to land and the closer we got, the more maneuvers were made. We only found it when we were already at 30 meters of altitude", reveals Duke.

As stated by Charles, each mission took Earth to a different point on the moon. "Apollo 11 was as if it had landed at sea level. They were the closest to ours, around 1,400 kilometers away. But Apollo 16, our mission, we landed at around 3,000 meters high", remember.

Another curiosity related to their first mission right after they landed: sleep 8 hours. "We were dying to leave, but the command in Houston ordered us to sleep 8 hours. But as we were going to nap on the moon right after landing, we wanted to put on the suits. But I slept for 4 hours after having to take a medicine to rest. But it was a joy look at that untouchable look," he says.

The costumes were also the subject of the chat. The clothes used outside the spacecraft, together with the life support backpack, weigh, on Earth, a total of 170 kilos. "But on the moon you divide by six. It took us three hours to get dressed. First we put on the urine collection system, a diaper, and then the clothes that connect with the hoses, which freeze and pass through the whole body. And finally the space suit. After that, we still went through a cabin to depressurize and see if there were no leaks".

The routine

During the press conference, the Jornal de Gramado report asked astronaut Charles Duke exclusively about the team's routine when they stay three days on the moon.

He says they needed to sleep 8 hours. "Nobody could sleep for 8 hours. So after waking up, we slept and started getting dressed in the space suit. Nobody was able to put the suits on by themselves, we helped each other", he says, where after that, missions and assigned tasks began.

First time

What about the feeling of seeing Earth for the first time?

"I saw that the Earth was a circle, I saw the coast of California, Mexico, the mountains. In fact, there are no stars when we are outside. The sun shines so intensely that everything is a great darkness, a black ball" , points out Duke.

Let's go again?

For Charles, there is no doubt that he would visit the moon again. "If they called me again, I would definitely go, even today", jokes the astronaut.

When questioned about manned trips commercially, he still believes it is difficult to stipulate when this can occur in a more affordable way. "It will depend on the efficiency of the manufacturer and the rockets. But if we compare it with televisions, look at everything that has advanced and decreased over time", he concludes.