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Author
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Topic: Apollo Lunar Sample Return Containers
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LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 02-18-2016 08:13 AM
  
There were nine different Apollo Lunar Sample Return Containers used on the lunar surface. Containers 1006, 1007 and 1009 were flown on more than one mission. These are the serial numbers: - Apollo 11 - 1003, 1004
- Apollo 12 - 1008, 1009
- Apollo 14 - 1006, 1007
- Apollo 15 - 1011, 1012
- Apollo 16 - 1009, 1010
- Apollo 17 - 1006, 1007
ALSRC 1009 was used on both Apollo 12 and Apollo 16. What were the serial numbers of the containers stowed on the Apollo 13 LM?Are there any other items that have been at two different lunar landing sites? |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-14-2016 09:44 PM
The caption for Apollo 11 photo S69-39996 indicates that is a rock box with lunar samples inside being unloaded. But it looks to me like it is one of the boxes that contained film, cameras, lenses, checklists ... etc.The box that is still in the vehicle looks like the one that contains an ALSRC. Compare with this photo of the box containing ALSRC-2 arriving at Ellington AFB. |
John Charles
Member Posts: 342
From: Houston, Texas, USA
Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 07-24-2019 04:12 PM
For what it's worth, I just checked the ALSRC on display here in Space Center Houston (the official visitors center for NASA Johnson Space Center). It is "ALSRC-TR 1" which I interpret to mean "training unit #1." Presumably there is a "TR 2" still to be discovered.Did anyone ever deduce which ones were on Apollo 13? I guess 1002 and 1005, with 1001 reserved for ground testing. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 07-25-2019 03:19 PM
The Apollo 13 stowage list only identifies them as Sample Return Container No. 1 and Sample Return Container No. 2 on the MESA. |
Phil Long
New Member Posts: 2
From: Alaska
Registered: Apr 2018
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posted 08-13-2019 11:17 PM
It doesn't answer your question about the Apollo 13 containers, but I was at The Museum of Flight last week and saw container 03 there. First time to see one of these in person.   
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John Charles
Member Posts: 342
From: Houston, Texas, USA
Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 01-06-2020 03:36 PM
Belated thanks to Phil Long for reporting #09 at the Museum of Flight in Seattle as of last August. The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum website appears to report the #08 is there, although it is hard to say for certain. Has anybody documented the locations of the remaining ALSRCs? And if so — where are they? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 43268
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 01-06-2020 05:22 PM
The ALSRC photographed by Phil at The Museum of Flight in Seattle is part of the "Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission" traveling exhibit, which has now moved on to its fifth and final stop at the Cincinnati Museum Center in Ohio. It will return to the Smithsonian in February.It is labeled ALSRC-03 and flew on Apollo 11. The second "rock box" aboard Eagle, ALSRC-04, is on display at the San Diego Air & Space Museum in California. The National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC displayed ALSRC-09, flown on Apollo 12 and Apollo 16, as part of its temporary exhibit, "50 Years from Tranquility Base: Humanity's First Visit to Another World." The Smithsonian also lists in its inventory ALSRC-07 (Apollo 14, Apollo 17); ALRSC-08 (Apollo 12); ALSRC-11 (Apollo 15; but identified by the museum as only a backup to Apollo 16 and 17); and a few qualification and training units. Space Center Houston (as noted above) and the New Mexico Museum of Space History both display training units. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-06-2020 11:32 PM
Both the ALSRCs used on Apollo 14 were re-used on Apollo 17.We don't yet know the numbers of the Apollo 13 ALSRCs, but we know they were not used before on the two previous lunar landings. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-07-2020 01:38 AM
ALSRC-TR-3 can be seen in Apollo 13 MESA detail photo S69-57062 from the Apollo Image Gallery. Looks like a training photo. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-07-2020 09:27 AM
Photo S70-30203 shows ALSRC-02 below the camera in the Apollo 13 MESA. Looks like the real deal. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-09-2020 12:15 AM
Each lunar landing mission had two rock boxes in the MESA on the lunar module. Each rock box was either #1 (ALSRC-1) or #2 (ALSRC-2). Those dash numbers are also on the ALSRCs at lower right on the front.This is the list I came up with: mission ... rock box #1 ... rock box #2
- Apollo 11 ... ALSRC-03 ... ALSRC-04
- Apollo 12 ... ALSRC-09 ... ALSRC-08
- Apollo 14 ... ALSRC-07 ... ALSRC-06
- Apollo 15 ... ALSRC-11 ... ALSRC-12
- Apollo 16 ... ALSRC-09 ... ALSRC-10
- Apollo 17 ... ALSRC-07 ... ALSRC-06
Don't know if ALSRC-02 was #1 or #2 on Apollo 13. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-10-2020 01:35 AM
Unfortunately, the ALSRC numbers cannot be seen in this photo of an Apollo 13 rock box for the mission.
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LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-13-2020 01:15 PM
The caption for photo S70-23726 indicates that it is a closed Apollo 13 rock box. The number on the box is ALSRC-05.So I would say that these were the two Apollo 13 rock boxes: - rock box 1 ... ALSRC-05 (photo S70-23726)
- rock box 2 ... ALSRC-02 (photo S70-30203)
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LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-19-2020 09:09 AM
It looks like rock box 2 (ALSRC-04) was the first to arrive at the Lunar Receiving Lab in Houston after the Apollo 11 mission. The mission report has this post-flight sequence of events: - sample return containers 1 and 2 removed from command module
- container 1 removed from Mobile Quarantine Facility
- container 2 removed from Mobile Quarantine Facility
- container 2 and film launch to Johnston Island
- container 1, film, and biological samples launched to Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii
- container 2 and film arrived in Houston
- container 1, film, and biological samples arrived in Houston
ALSRC-04 was opened for the first time on July 26, 1969. ALSRC-03 was opened for the first time on Aug. 5, 1969. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-21-2020 03:10 PM
Were the ALSRCs carried by hand up the LM ladder? |
space1
Member Posts: 854
From: Danville, Ohio
Registered: Dec 2002
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posted 01-21-2020 06:57 PM
No. A tether conveyor rig was set up with one end attached to the LM ceiling handhold. The box was attached to the tether, and the astronauts pulled the tether to guide the box through the hatchway. |
Larry McGlynn
Member Posts: 1262
From: Boston, MA
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted 01-21-2020 08:43 PM
They lifted the rock boxes aboard the LM with the LEC (Lunar Equipment Conveyor). Its discussed in the ALSJ. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-21-2020 09:15 PM
It sounds like the astronauts practiced it though from this photo caption:
Before leaving for the moon, Astronaut Bean set a new record for the most parabolic maneuvers flown on a training mission--101 parabolas in three hours 20 minutes flying time. In all, Bean had about 55 minutes of lunar surface simulation time. During the flight Bean practiced walking, tumbling, falling, and getting up and down the LM ladder with the lunar sample return boxes. The photo is in the December 12, 1969 issue of MSC Roundup on page 3. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-22-2020 10:05 PM
In the MESA on the Apollo J-missions, ALSRC-1 was on the right and ALSRC-2 was on the left.The MESA on the earlier lunar landings was arranged differently. ALSRC-1 was on the bottom and ALSRC-2 was on the top. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-23-2020 03:17 AM
ALSRCs can be seen on the moon at the LM MESA in some photos, including these: |
Joel Katzowitz
Member Posts: 809
From: Marietta GA USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 01-23-2020 07:36 AM
As an aside to the rock box thread.In 1989 I designed the original incarnation of the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. During the course of the project we received lots of artifacts for inclusion in the display. They came from a number of sources including astronauts and the Space and Rocket Center. One day an empty metal box showed up at my office. After checking it out I realized that it was a "rock box." What fascinated me is that it was milled from a solid block of metal as opposed to individual plates that had been welded together. I realized that the box had been sent in error and had it returned. It was a pretty cool experience to examine that artifact. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-23-2020 10:30 AM
More manufacturing details about the SRCs can be found in this Apollo Lunar Sample Return Container - Summary Report from Union Carbide. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-23-2020 05:44 PM
On Apollo 12 at the end of EVA-1, SRC-2 was placed in the Sun on the +Y footpad. SRC-1 with samples was transferred via the LEC up into the LM.At the end of EVA-1 on Apollo 14, Shepard handed up the SRC to Mitchell (on the ladder) who placed it on the porch. They did not use the LEC to transfer the SRC. From the technical debrief: SHEPARD: All right, we parked the MET and covered it over. We didn't have any problems in the technique that we used in getting the sample return container up. Ed started up the ladder and got a couple of steps up, and I just handed it up to him. It's a lot easier to do in one-sixth g than it is on the ground. He took that on up and left it on the step, and then he hauled up the rest of the stuff from the bag.MITCHELL: While we are commenting on moving the rock box up, on the second EVA, for example, I carried it up by myself from the ground level without any great problem at all. I just bounced up from the surface to the first rung with the rock box in my left hand. |
davidcwagner
Member Posts: 804
From: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 01-23-2020 06:44 PM
In 1977, I got to touch a flown Apollo 17 sample return container. I helped the lone museum staffer place it in an exhibit at the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo, NM. The container was placed on a an Apollo 14 training MET. No pictures unfortunately. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-23-2020 06:59 PM
That's cool. Is it still there? |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-23-2020 09:03 PM
The transcripts seem to indicate that on Apollo 11 and Apollo 12, the SRCs were transferred up to the LM using the LEC. And on Apollo 14, 15, 16 and 17 the SRCs were carried up the LM ladder by hand.
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oly
Member Posts: 925
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015
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posted 01-23-2020 10:09 PM
quote:
Originally posted by LM-12:
Apollo Lunar Sample Return Container - Summary Report
Thank you so much for posting this link. This document is an interesting read and has some detailed information that I have never seen before. I never considered the rock box to be such a technical piece of equipment before and was not aware of the temperature recording devices used. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-24-2020 01:39 AM
Yes, I agree; a very technical piece of hardware to fabricate and test.From the transcripts, it appears that Mitchell, Irwin, Scott, Young and Cernan carried SRCs up the LM ladder during EVA closeout activities. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-25-2020 12:47 AM
During the Apollo 11 TV transmission on Flight Day 7, Neil Armstrong showed viewers the sample return containers in the command module. From the mission transcripts at 06 11 40 32 GET:
CDR: We know there's a lot of scientists from a number of countries standing by to see the lunar samples, and we thought you'd be interested to see them as they really are here. These two boxes are the sample return containers. They - They're vacuum-packed containers that were closed in a vacuum on the lunar surface, sealed, and then brought inside the LM and put inside these fiber-glass bags, zippered, and resealed around the outside, and placed in these receptacles in the side of the command module. These are the two boxes. And as soon as we get onto the ship, I'm sure these boxes will immediately be transferred and delivery started to the Lunar Receiving Laboratory. These boxes include the samples of the various types of rock, the groundmass of the soil, the sand and silt, and the particle collector for the solar wind experiment, and the core tubes that took depth samples of the lunar surface. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-26-2020 01:10 AM
SRC-1 was on the left in B5. SRC-2 was on the right in B6. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-29-2020 03:40 AM
So where were the SRCs stowed in the LM post-EVA?It looks like they were stowed in the OPS compartment, which can be seen at left in this pre-launch close-out photo of the Apollo 16 LM cabin showing both OPSs. That seems to be why both OPSs were secured on the LM floor prior to lunar liftoff. The Apollo 12 flight plan includes these post-EVA tasks: post-EVA-1:
- stow LMP OPS on floor
- stow SRC in lower & CDR OPS in top OPS compartment post-EVA-2:
- secure OPSs on floor
- stow SRC #2
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oly
Member Posts: 925
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015
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posted 01-29-2020 04:54 AM
quote:
Originally posted by LM-12:
It looks like they were stowed in the OPS compartment.
You can see the on the sides of the lower and next up positions that there are holes in the side walls designed to take the pins used to secure the sample containers in place during flight. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-29-2020 02:49 PM
It looks like they would have had to rotate the T-handle on the SRCs to secure those latching pins.
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oly
Member Posts: 925
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015
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posted 01-29-2020 05:39 PM
Yes, that is the purpose of the "T" handle. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-30-2020 12:35 AM
The ALSRC can also be seen in photo AS11-40-5916.
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oly
Member Posts: 925
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015
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posted 01-30-2020 04:47 AM
Video of the Lunar Module 2 MESA during restoration at the National Air and Space Museum showing the rock box stowage location.The Apollo 13 training MESA and here are several images of the Apollo G and H series MESA. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3284
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 02-17-2020 12:20 AM
Apollo 11 training photo S69-39270 shows Buzz Aldrin in a KC-135 aircraft standing on a LM ladder mockup with a floating ALSRC tethered to the ladder handrail. It looks like he may have been practicing carrying the ALSRC up the ladder by hand.
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