Posts: 3207 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 10-14-2016 09:17 AM
Gene Cernan removed and saved his Oxygen Purge System (OPS) cover after the Apollo 17 moonwalks and the transearth EVA by Ron Evans. The OPS cover had been sealed and stored at a Smithsonian facility for decades and only recently opened, as explained in this 2015 feature story from the National Air and Space Museum.
The cover was examined by NASA and then sealed in plastic. This object, like most other flown hardware, was inspected post-flight, inventoried, and put on a storage shelf where it became a part of NASA’s flight collection. The National Air and Space Museum received the cover — still sealed in its plastic wrap — in the 1980s along with other Apollo-era artifacts which found a home for nearly three decades at the Museum’s Paul E. Garber Restoration and Storage Facility. During a recent survey of the collection, the object was rediscovered in storage where it laid untouched and sealed just as it was when it was returned from the lunar surface.
Jurg Bolli Member
Posts: 977 From: Albuquerque, NM Registered: Nov 2000
posted 10-14-2016 09:28 AM
Very nice story on a marvelous artifact.
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3207 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 10-14-2016 11:00 AM
I am not exactly sure if the OPS cover was removed in-flight or post-flight, but after reading the article, I got the impression that it was removed during the flight:
Capt. Cernan returned his Oxygen Purge System (OPS) cover to Earth in December 1972 — an object that once covered his personal life support system (PLSS). The cover was examined by NASA and then sealed in plastic.
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3207 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 10-14-2016 10:57 PM
EVA-2 photo AS17-133-20250 taken at Station 4 is a good view of the OPS that Cernan wore on the moon.
Philip Member
Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
posted 10-15-2016 10:28 AM
Incredibly interesting story and a great flown item!!!
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3207 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 10-15-2016 11:19 AM
Jack Schmitt, who would have seen those red OPS stripes a lot during the three moonwalks, said this in the transcripts after the transearth EVA:
LMP: Well, we got a lot of use out of that OPS.
Mike Dixon Member
Posts: 1397 From: Kew, Victoria, Australia Registered: May 2003
posted 10-15-2016 05:56 PM
One thing I don't understand is the heavy use of B&W film on the moon. Some missions spring to mind (Apollo 12 and 14) and I reckon people would kill to see the colored equivalent.
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3207 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 10-15-2016 08:27 PM
The only colour moonwalk photo of Cernan that shows the red stripes and flag on his OPS seems to be frame AS17-137-20890 taken near the LM on EVA-2, and you need the high-res version to see them.
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3207 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 11-02-2016 07:14 AM
Here is some film footage of Ron Evans wearing the same OPS during his transearth EVA.
nasamad Member
Posts: 2121 From: Essex, UK Registered: Jul 2001
posted 11-02-2016 06:30 PM
quote:Originally posted by Mike Dixon: One thing I don't understand is the heavy use of B&W film on the moon.
Mike, I think they could make the emulsion grain size was smaller for B&W film so it would give better detail.
posted 10-14-2016 09:17 AM
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