S72-55170 (11 Dec. 1972) --- These five men in the Mission Control Center ponder the solution to the problem of the damage to the right rear fender of the Apollo 17 Lunar Roving Vehicle at the Taurus-Littrow landing site. During the first lunar surface extravehicular activity a hammer got underneath the fender and a part of it was knocked off. Astronauts Eugene A. Cernan and Harrison H. Schmitt were reporting a problem with lunar dust because of the damaged fender. They sought some way to repair the broken fender. Clockwise are astronauts John W. Young and Charles M. Duke Jr., two Apollo 17 CAPCOM; Donald K. Slayton, director of flight crew operations at MSC; Dr. Roco A. Petrone, Apollo program director, Office of Manned Space Flight, NASA HQ; and Ronald V. Blevins, an EVA-1 flight controller with General Electric. They are looking over a makeshift repair arrangement which uses lunar maps and clamps from the optical alignment telescope lamp, a repair suggestion made by astronaut Young. The suggestion was relayed to Cernan and Schmitt and the repair made at the beginning of EVA-2. The problem was solved satisfactorily.

Saturn Apollo Program

This photograph taken during the Apollo 17 mission (the last mission of the Apollo Program), depicts stiff plasticized maps being taped together and fastened by clamps to patch a broken fender of the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). Powered by battery, the lightweight electric car greatly increased the range of mobility and productivity on the scientific traverses for astronauts. It weighed 462 pounds (77 pounds on the Moon) and could carry two suited astronauts, their gear and cameras, and several hundred pounds of bagged samples. The LRV's mobility was quite high. It could climb and descend slopes of about 25 degrees. The LRV was designed and developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center and built by the Boeing Company.

Close-up of lunar roving vehicle at Apollo 17 Taurus-Littrow landing site

AS17-137-20979 (12 Dec. 1972) --- A close-up view of the lunar roving vehicle (LRV) at the Taurus-Littrow landing site photographed during Apollo 17 lunar surface extravehicular activity. Note the makeshift repair arrangement on the right rear fender of the LRV. During EVA-1 a hammer got underneath the fender and a part of it was knocked off. Astronauts Eugene A. Cernan and Harrison H. Schmitt were reporting a problem with lunar dust because of the damage fender. Following a suggestion from astronaut John W. Young in the Mission Control Center at Houston the crewmen repaired the fender early in EVA-2 using lunar maps and clamps from the optical alignment telescope lamp. Schmitt is seated in the rover. Cernan took this picture.

Astronaut Story Musgrave in EMU in thermal vacuum chamber

S93-34001 (26 May 1993) --- Astronaut F. Story Musgrave, wearing a training version of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU), participates in a dry run for tests in a thermal vacuum chamber. The payload commander will be among four suited crew members participating in task rehearsals and testing the tools that will be used on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) repair mission. The test, conducted in Chamber B of the Space Environment and Simulation Laboratory (SESL) at the Johnson Space Center (JSC), verified that the tools being designed for the mission will work in the cold vacuum of space. Others pictured, from the left, are Andrea Tullar and Donna Fender, test directors; Leonard S. Nicholson, acting director of engineering; and astronauts Thomas D. Akers and Kathryn C. Thornton, mission specialists, along with Musgrave.

Low clouds in central California

Low clouds filled California’s Central Valley in late January, 2015. Such winter fog is considered a common phenomenon, and can be so dense that it snarls traffic, causes fender-benders, and can make symptoms worse in those with respiratory disease. At the same time, the moist winter fog helps keep temperatures low in the rich agricultural region by reflecting sunlight and keeping the ground from warming, which helps keep the abundant fruit and nut trees dormant, allowing for bountiful harvests. Scientific studies have reported that winter fogs (also called Thule fogs) are occurring less frequently in the Central Valley. One study, by Dennis Baldocchi and Eric Waller, was published in May, 2014. It finds that since 1981 the number of fog days between November and February has decreased by 46 percent. The severe drought that California has experienced in recent years may also have decreased the number of fog events even more since 2012. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image on January 24, 2015. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Jeff Schmaltz/MODIS Land Rapid Response Team <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a> <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a> Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a> Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a>