Catalog of Apollo Lunar Surface Geological Sampling Tools and Containers (JSC-23454)
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Source document: 1989-03-apollo-lunar-surface-sampling-tools-catalog-jsc-23454.pdf
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Original: Judith Haley Allton, Catalog of Apollo Lunar Surface Geological Sampling Tools and Containers, JSC-23454 / LESC-26676. Lockheed Engineering and Sciences Company for the NASA/JSC Solar System Exploration Division (Contract NAS 9-17900), March 1989.
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Available online: NASA JSC curator — JSC-23454 tool catalog; also LPI/CAPTEM PDF.
Summary
Section titled “Summary”The reference catalog of the hardware the astronauts used to collect and preserve lunar samples across all six landing missions (Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17). It is an engineering document, not a science one: each tool and container is featured individually with its dimensions, weight, materials, manufacturer, operation, and the list of missions that carried it, drawn from flight stowage lists, rock-box packing lists, the Apollo 11 Sample Information Catalogue, voice transcripts, and surface photographs. Part I describes every tool and container by type; Part II gives per-mission weight summaries, where Table 2 is the verified Apollo 11 inventory. For this library its value is the Apollo 11 subset — the first and simplest sampling kit, against which every later mission’s hardware was an elaboration.
Key takeaways
Section titled “Key takeaways”- The Apollo 11 kit was minimal. Table 2 lists only a contingency soil sampler, two 2-cm core tubes, a short extension handle, a lightweight hammer, a box-shaped scoop, small tongs, and a spring scale — plus the containers. The rake, drill, LRV soil sampler, trenching tool, adjustable scoops, 32-inch tongs, tool carriers, CSVC, LESC, MSSC, organic monitors, padded bags, and Sample Collection Bags all arrived on later missions.
- The core tubes underperformed. Apollo 11’s 2-cm core tubes had thick walls and an inverted-funnel bit designed for “fluffy” soil that did not work well in the relatively dense lunar regolith; the bit was redesigned after Apollo 11.
- No tool carrier. Apollo 11 had no MET, rover rack, or hand carrier — tools came out of the LM’s MESA. The first (small) tool carrier appeared on Apollo 12.
- Two early-only environmental containers. The Gas Analysis Sample Container (GASC) flew only on Apollo 11 and 12; Apollo 11 also carried a Special Environmental Sample Container (SESC) — both sealed soil against terrestrial and cabin gases with a knife-edge-into-indium metal seal.
- The rock boxes were precision vacuum vessels. Each ALSRC was machined from a single block of 7075 aluminum with a triple seal (a knife edge into soft indium plus two fluorosilicone O-rings) and York-mesh padding; two flew on every mission. Substantial leakage was later found in 4 of the 12 boxes returned.
- Designed for a suited crew. Tools needed large gripping surfaces (bulky, stiff gloves), minimum weight, dust tolerance, and materials chosen to avoid sample contamination (Pb, U, Th, K, Rb, noble gases, organics) — mainly 6061 aluminum and 300-series stainless, with Teflon the only accepted plastic.