Earthrise (11 page)

If all of this sounds unpleasant, it was. But it was a necessary procedure and it worked.

Another hygienic challenge was bathing, or the lack of it. We couldn’t take a bath or shower during the entire nine days. But we did have wet wipes to clean our skin, and disposable toothbrushes with edible toothpaste. We’d brush our teeth, swallow the toothpaste, and then throw away the brushes.

Sleep Time and ESP

Sleep was also a tricky situation on the craft, and we always made sure one person was awake and on watch. While two of us slept, the other astronaut piloted the craft and communicated with Mission Control. To catch some shut-eye, I’d pull myself below my couch and climb into my sleeping bag. Because we were in zero G, we didn’t need a pillow or a mattress to rest our head or body. We’d simply float into dreamland. And fortunately, small window shades helped shut out the sunlight and give us a sense of nighttime.

The Apollo astronauts were allowed to bring along reading material and music to enjoy during downtime or before our sleep periods. So I decided to get creative. One night when I was supposed to be sleeping while Stu was on watch, Stu called out for me. “Hey there, Ed,” he said. “What’s going on?” It was about 45 minutes past lights out, but he could see my flashlight was on.

EXTRASENSORY PERCEPTION

Can we know what someone else is thinking without saying a word? Those who believe in extrasensory perception, or ESP, say it’s possible. The concept, sometimes referred to as the “sixth sense,” became popular through the work of Dr. Joseph Banks Rhine, a psychologist from Duke University. Dr. Rhine founded the Duke University Parapsychology Lab in 1930 to study ESP, which comprises three different kinds of phenomena: telepathy (communication of thoughts from one person to another without the use of the five senses), clairvoyance (recognizing objects or events without the use of the five senses), and precognition (being able to know the future). Since Dr. Rhine’s studies, a great deal of research has been conducted to better understand extrasensory perception. Today, some scientists believe ESP is based on properties of quantum physics where information can be exchanged on subatomic levels.

“Not much,” I replied.

Actually, I was conducting a long-distance ESP experiment that only a few other people in the world knew about. Not even Alan or Stu knew about it.

In addition to being a space explorer, I also wanted to explore consciousness and the mind. I was very curious about ESP, which is the ability to know or perceive something beyond the five senses. Some people refer to this as having a hunch, or having intuition. For example, if the phone rings and you think you know who is calling, this may be an example of ESP. I was especially curious about the research of scientist Dr. Joseph Banks Rhine, whose work focused on paranormal subjects. Dr. Rhine’s research suggested that ESP can work close-up, but I wondered whether this phenomenon could happen hundreds of thousands of miles away. In space!

I realized that flying to the Moon gave me a chance to test this hypothesis. So, on four different nights (two nights on the way to the Moon and two nights returning from the Moon) I took out a pen and pad of paper connected to a small knee-board near my sleeping bag. I would write down a sequence of numbers and matching symbols at a specific time. I would then carefully concentrate on what I’d written for exactly seven minutes, almost as if I were memorizing my notes.

Back on Earth, at exactly the same time, two doctors and two psychics were also writing down their own sequence of numbers and matching symbols and concentrating on what they’d written for exactly seven minutes. When I returned from the Moon, we’d all compare notes and see if ESP had worked from thousands of miles away. I couldn’t wait to find out.

After I was done with my evening science project, I turned off my flashlight.

“Goodnight,” Stu said. He’d obviously noticed my light was out.

“Night,” I replied. I then closed my eyes and started to focus on the big adventure that was just around the corner.

I was born in 1930 in Hereford, Texas. Here I am in Hereford at the home of my Grandmother Mitchell when I was about three years old.
Courtesy Edgar Mitchell

In 1935 my family moved to Roswell, New Mexico, where my father was a rancher. I’m riding my Shetland pony, Sparky.
Courtesy Edgar Mitchell

The Apollo 14 Crew: Command Module Pilot Stu Roosa (left), Commander Alan Shepard (center), and Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell (right).
Courtesy NASA

In 1947, when I was 17, I was shocked to learn that an alleged flying saucer had landed on a ranch not too far from my home. The next day the
Roswell Daily Record
reported the saucer was a weather balloon. Later in life I realized this incident piqued my curiosity about ETs and space.
Courtesy Roswell Daily Record

I’ve loved airplanes and flying since I was young. After college I enlisted in the navy and began flight training in Pensacola, Florida. I’m standing on the wing of an AT-6 SNJ “Texan” navy trainer.
Courtesy Edgar Mitchell

Apollo astronauts needed to know how to survive in harsh environments in the event we crash-landed or were stranded. We learned to survive in the Panama jungles. Here I’m busy chopping down a palm tree to access the heart of the palm, which was the edible core.
Courtesy NASA

In sweltering Florida heat, Alan and I practiced the work we would do on the Moon in our spacesuits. On some days I could lose up to ten pounds simply by sweating.
Courtesy NASA

Standing 363 feet tall, our massive and mighty Saturn V rocket thrust us on our way to the Moon.
Courtesy NASA