My space crew, Big Daddy, Girl, Silent Male, Recovering Soul and, the infamous, Desmond Jones, are lost on the moon. And in charge of Search and Rescue is . . . Recovering Soul. Or maybe that should be Recovering Souls.
Here are NASA's answers , in order of importance, and why:
1. Two 100 lb. tanks of oxygen - No air on the moon. Most pressing survival need.
2. Five gallons of water - You can't live long without this, especially on the lighted side.
3. Stellar map (of the moon's constellations) - Primary means of navigation.
4. Food concentrate - Efficient means of supplying energy requirements.
5. Solar-powered FM receiver/transmitter - Communicating with the mother ship when close enough for line of sight.
6. Fifty feet of nylon rope - Useful for scaling cliffs and tying injured together.
7. First-aid kit containing injection needles - Needles for vitamins, medicines, fit special aperture in suits.
8. Parachute silk - Protection from the sun's rays; carrying (I'm guessing that means carrying things in)
9. Self-inflating life raft - For carrying and shelter; CO2 bottle for self-propulsion.
10. Signal flares - Distress signal when mother ship is sighted. Oxygen built in.
11. Two .45 caliber pistols - Possible means of self-propulsion.
And the things that might as well be left with the wreckage:
12. One case of dehydrated milk - Bulkier than food concentrate. Needs water.
13. Solar-powered heating unit - Light side of the moon is hot. Not needed.
14. Magnetic compass - Magnetic field on the moon is not polarized; worthless for navigation.
15. Box of matches - No oxygen to sustain flame.
