Author
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Topic: Apollo astronaut lunar geological hammers
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Ross Sackett Member Posts: 18 From: Santa Fe, NM Registered: Aug 2015
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posted 08-03-2015 12:04 PM
Sorry for the long post and pleading tone but I am hoping you can help. I am an anthropologist researching the Apollo lunar geological hammers, and I have gathered a collection source materials including EVA and training photographs, NASA technical documents, and photos of museum specimens, as well as EVA transcripts and astronaut commentary from the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal. I posted a preview of this project in the Lunar Photo of the Day blog last summer. I now have considerably more information than provided in standard NASA reference works like Allton's Catalog of Apollo Lunar Surface Geological Sampling Tools and Containers so I am pretty encouraged about the ongoing project, but I have hit something of a brick wall in two important areas, and hoped members of this forum might be able to help. First, I have found little information on their actual design and manufacturing process, other than a comment that they were made at the JSC. My internet search has found no engineering drawings or contemporary technical descriptions of the varieties of hammers produced for Apollo (at least four different variants flew, and several others appear in the photographic record as prototypes or training hammers). Does anyone have any information or advice on how I can tighten-up this part of the investigation? Secondly, I am having difficulty locating museum specimens for close study. NASA transferred a collection of lunar training tools and prototypes including several hammers to the Smithsonian, who has apparently lent them to other institutions. I know of two on display: a training version of the Apollo 17 hammer at the Tellus Science Museum in Georgia and the Apollo 14 variant on display at the Musee de l'Air et de l'Espace outside Paris. I've heard rumor of an Apollo 11 and 12-style light hammer in the Chicago area but I have no specifics. There also might be an unfinished hammer on public display at the JSC in Houston. Does anyone know of these or other Apollo hammers on public display? The only hammers in private hands that I know of are LMP Bean's flown hammer from Apollo 12 and a recently-auctioned light hammer head attached to a pipe handle, possibly an early mockup. Ross Sackett, PhD Anthropology The University of Memphis |
Jeff Member Posts: 474 From: Fayetteville, NC, USA Registered: May 2009
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posted 08-03-2015 12:42 PM
Ross, not sure if this will help with your research but Michael Key, he's also on this forum, is a modeler who has made 3D replicas of two types of hammers. He may be a start on dimensions. Shot in the dark. |
Ross Sackett Member Posts: 18 From: Santa Fe, NM Registered: Aug 2015
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posted 08-03-2015 01:02 PM
Thanks for that lead; that's a good looking replica of the heavy hammer. I have photogrametrically constructed a set of drawings of the two most common variants and it will be interesting to compare them to what others have done. |
Joel Katzowitz Member Posts: 808 From: Marietta GA USA Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 08-06-2015 08:17 AM
I don't know if this helps at all but I live about 40 minutes away from the Tellus Museum. If you need photos of the hammer in their collection I'd be happy to drive over with my camera.Let me know and good luck with your project. |
Ross Sackett Member Posts: 18 From: Santa Fe, NM Registered: Aug 2015
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posted 08-06-2015 08:38 AM
Joel I'd hate to send you out of your way, but if you find yourself out there I'd greatly appreciate some pictures.And thanks for the encouragement. |
mode1charlie Member Posts: 1169 From: Honolulu, HI Registered: Sep 2010
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posted 06-18-2017 06:53 PM
Ross, are you still working on this project? |
Ross Sackett Member Posts: 18 From: Santa Fe, NM Registered: Aug 2015
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posted 06-19-2017 02:43 PM
Yes, I am. I've completed a photogrammetric study of the several different kinds of hammers that Apollo astronauts trained with and used on the moon, an analysis of the motor habits of astronauts using the hammers in the lunar environment, a "hands off" study of the hammer in the Tellus Museum, and an interview with a moon walking astronaut. I can report a couple of clear results. In contrast to NASA documents suggesting that two different styles of hammers were used, it is clear from the visual evidence that there were at least six variants, four of which were flown. Rather than a single redesign after Apollo 12 revealed problems with the early "light" hammer (as the story goes), it's clear that the hammer went through a continuous evolution over the course of the Apollo program, and it remained a work in progress even in the lead-up to Apollo 17. The evidence I looked at also showed some consistent problems they were never able to solve, such as the ergonomic interference caused by the cables restraining the shoulder convolutes in the A7L and A7LB suits, and also the tendency of the hammer to rotate in the grip after every three or four strikes requiring the astronaut to pause and reposition the handle. It was also clear from the EVA videos and transcripts that the astronauts found a number of uses for the hammers that were essentially "off schedule" and never made it into the NASA manuals, and one "official" function of the hammer that was NEVER actually used on the moon. According to the NASA manuals, the hammers were to be used as a hoe in trenching operations, attached to the standard extension handle. In fact, though press materials and tool manuals from the first to the last landing missions described this function astronauts never actually used the tool this way. |
Philip Member Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 06-24-2017 04:05 AM
What was the weight of these geological hammers? |
Ross Sackett Member Posts: 18 From: Santa Fe, NM Registered: Aug 2015
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posted 06-24-2017 09:05 AM
860 g for the light hammer used in Apollos 11 and 12, 1300 g used for Apollos 15-17. The Apollo 14 hammer would have probably been close to that of the heavy hammer, a little more or less. |
Charlie16 Member Posts: 494 From: Italy Registered: Dec 2010
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posted 01-05-2018 05:27 PM
The metal hammer replica: For all enthusiasts of the Apollo program, the faithful reproduction of the Apollo hammer, everything made by machine. Full aluminum, with the same knurling in the handle.This is a heavier weight lunar hammer designed to chip a sample of rock off a larger rock or to drive core tubes into the lunar soil. When attached to an extension handle, the hammer was also used to dig surface furrows. Hammers of this style were used on Apollo 14, 15, 16, and 17. |
YankeeClipper Member Posts: 617 From: Dublin, Ireland Registered: Mar 2011
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posted 01-25-2018 01:39 PM
S69-31566 Apollo 11 training MESA with geology hammer stowed. |