| Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package |
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The Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) comprised a set of scientific instruments placed by the Astronaut s at the landing site of each of the five Apollo Missions to land on the Moon following Apollo 11 (Apollos 12 , 14 , 15 , 16 , and 17 ). Apollo 11 left a smaller, temporary, package called the Early Apollo Scientific Experiments Package, or EASEP. The instrumentation and experiments that would comprise ALSEP were decided in February of 1966. Specifically, the experiments, institutions responsible, and principal investigators and coinvestigators were:
The instruments were designed to run autonomously after the astronauts left and to make long term studies of the lunar environment. They were arrayed around a Central Station which supplied power generated by a Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) to run the instruments and communications so data collected by the experiments could be relayed to Earth. Thermal control was achieved by passive elements (insulation, reflectors, thermal coatings) as well as power dissipation resistors and heaters. Data collected from the instruments were converted into a telemetry format and transmitted to Earth. The ALSEP system and instruments were controlled by commands from Earth. The stations ran from deployment until they were turned off on 30 September 1977 due primarily to budgetary considerations. Also, by that time the power packs could not run both the transmitter and any other instrument, and the ALSEP control room was needed for the attempt to reactivate Skylab . DEPLOYMENT The ALSEP was stored in the LM's Scientific Equipment (SEQ) Bay in two separate subpackages. The base of the first subpackage formed the Central Station while the base of the second subpackage was part of the RTG. A subpallet was also attached to the second subpackage which usually carried one or two of the experiments, the ALSEP tools, and the antenna gimbal assembly. On Apollo 12, 13, and 14, the second subpackage also stored the Lunar hand tool carrier. The exact deployment of experiments differed by mission. The following pictures show a typical procedure from Apollo 12. COMMON ELEMENTS Each ALSEP station had some common elements. LIST OF EXPERIMENTS LIST OF MISSIONS Each mission had a different array of experiments. Apollo 11 (EASEP) simply carried the EASEP to the deployment site by using handles. This is different from the carrybar used on later missions.]] As stated above, Apollo 11 did not leave a full ALSEP package, but left a simpler version called the Early Apollo Surface Experiments Package (EASEP). Since there was only one 2 hour 40 minute EVA planned, the crew would not have enough time to deploy a full ALSEP, which usually took two or more hours to deploy. Apollo 12 Apollo 13 Because of the aborted landing, none of the experiments were deployed. Apollo 14 Apollo 15 Apollo 16 Apollo 17 NOTES |
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