Module did on that fateful day in 1969, so it might seem like overloading such a primitive computer was fairly easy to do. Not so. In fact, the 1202 computer alarm was so rare that it had not ever even come up NASA’s landing simulations prior to the Apollo 11 landing. When it happened and the computer reset, Armstrong called back to Mission Control for an interpretation and was preparing to abort the landing if he didn’t get the answer he wanted. In fact, according to Aldrin, he actually had his hand on the abort trigger while they waited for word from NASA as to the nature of the warning.
As it turns out, the reason for the 1202 alarm was that there were too many systems active on the Eagle and too much data was coming in. This was because Aldrin had done something he was not supposed to do; he turned on two different radars.
Unbeknownst to most people, the Lunar Module was equipped with two different radar systems, a landing radar and rendezvous radar. The landing radar was (obviously) downward looking and the rendezvous radar was side looking. According to the checklist, Aldrin was only supposed to activate the landing radar, but instead he activated both the landing radar and the rendezvous radar. As a result, the computer was overloaded with data and had to shut down and reset, hence the dramatic “1202” alarm. 1
But the big question is why would he do this? If the Moon is exactly as NASA portrays it, then there is no need for anything but the landing radar. There are no towering glass structures to worry about hitting, so all you need to know is your altitude above the landing site. Since the Apollo 11 landing site was in virtually the middle of nowhere in the Sea of Tranquility, with no mountains around the flat plain for hundreds of miles, there was no need to worry about getting too close anything on the way down. But if Aldrin knew there were transparent, immense structures all over the Moon, then activating the side-looking rendezvous radar would have been a natural precaution.
So the next question is fairly obvious as well; if there are glass ruins on the Moon, where exactly is the rest of it located? As we’ll see, it’s all over the place. But one of the most interesting regions is someplace we never even landed—Mare Crisium.
1 E-mail communication from Ken Johnston Jr. to the author. July 2, 2004.
Close-up of NASA color image AS16-120-19187 showing blue-shifted glass structures obscuring view of Earthrise.
NASA color image AS16-120-19187, showing glass-like intervening medium obscuring the lunar landscape.
4 different versions of AS14-66-9301 showing glass ruins over the horizon. (NASA)
Geometric glass structures over Sinus Medii from NASA image AS10-324816.
AS14-66-9301 The “Mitchell Under Glass” image from the Ken Johnston Collection.
Apollo 12 image showing astronaut Alan Bean in front of glass like lunar structures beyond the horizon.
Self portrait of astronaut Alan Bean.
Imagined lunar dome as it might have appeared eons ago.
CHAPTER FIVE
MARE CRISIUM
It is very strange the way the ejecta from Proclus
crosses Crisium. It is almost like flying above a haze
layer and looking down through the haze.
It looks like it is suspended over it.
– Al Worden, Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot
M are Crisium (the “Sea of Crises”) is dark colored, 350 mile wide “pond-effect” impact basin in the northern hemisphere of the Moon, just northeast of the Sea of Tranquility. Centered roughly 20° north and 60° east, it is near the eastern edge of the face of the Moon visible from Earth. It has relatively few major features, of which the major craters Proclus, Picard, Pierce and Cleomedes are the most prominent. The entire Crisium basin covers an area of about 65,000 square miles and is the source of one of the gravitational anomalies known as “mascons” (or mass concentrations) that I mentioned in the first chapter. No one knows what causes the mascons, but the most likely
As it turns out, the reason for the 1202 alarm was that there were too many systems active on the Eagle and too much data was coming in. This was because Aldrin had done something he was not supposed to do; he turned on two different radars.
Unbeknownst to most people, the Lunar Module was equipped with two different radar systems, a landing radar and rendezvous radar. The landing radar was (obviously) downward looking and the rendezvous radar was side looking. According to the checklist, Aldrin was only supposed to activate the landing radar, but instead he activated both the landing radar and the rendezvous radar. As a result, the computer was overloaded with data and had to shut down and reset, hence the dramatic “1202” alarm. 1
But the big question is why would he do this? If the Moon is exactly as NASA portrays it, then there is no need for anything but the landing radar. There are no towering glass structures to worry about hitting, so all you need to know is your altitude above the landing site. Since the Apollo 11 landing site was in virtually the middle of nowhere in the Sea of Tranquility, with no mountains around the flat plain for hundreds of miles, there was no need to worry about getting too close anything on the way down. But if Aldrin knew there were transparent, immense structures all over the Moon, then activating the side-looking rendezvous radar would have been a natural precaution.
So the next question is fairly obvious as well; if there are glass ruins on the Moon, where exactly is the rest of it located? As we’ll see, it’s all over the place. But one of the most interesting regions is someplace we never even landed—Mare Crisium.
1 E-mail communication from Ken Johnston Jr. to the author. July 2, 2004.
Close-up of NASA color image AS16-120-19187 showing blue-shifted glass structures obscuring view of Earthrise.
NASA color image AS16-120-19187, showing glass-like intervening medium obscuring the lunar landscape.
4 different versions of AS14-66-9301 showing glass ruins over the horizon. (NASA)
Geometric glass structures over Sinus Medii from NASA image AS10-324816.
AS14-66-9301 The “Mitchell Under Glass” image from the Ken Johnston Collection.
Apollo 12 image showing astronaut Alan Bean in front of glass like lunar structures beyond the horizon.
Self portrait of astronaut Alan Bean.
Imagined lunar dome as it might have appeared eons ago.
CHAPTER FIVE
MARE CRISIUM
It is very strange the way the ejecta from Proclus
crosses Crisium. It is almost like flying above a haze
layer and looking down through the haze.
It looks like it is suspended over it.
– Al Worden, Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot
M are Crisium (the “Sea of Crises”) is dark colored, 350 mile wide “pond-effect” impact basin in the northern hemisphere of the Moon, just northeast of the Sea of Tranquility. Centered roughly 20° north and 60° east, it is near the eastern edge of the face of the Moon visible from Earth. It has relatively few major features, of which the major craters Proclus, Picard, Pierce and Cleomedes are the most prominent. The entire Crisium basin covers an area of about 65,000 square miles and is the source of one of the gravitational anomalies known as “mascons” (or mass concentrations) that I mentioned in the first chapter. No one knows what causes the mascons, but the most likely
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