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Analysis of Surveyor 3 Material and Photographs Returned by Apollo 12

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£ 7 / Analysis of Sm'v{')_;t"3 ma|erial and"ph_i_gn'aphs relurn_d_, • "_ b),,,Ap_lh_ 12 Scientific and Technical Information Office 1972 NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION Washington, D.C. For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 Price $4.00 Stock Number 3300--0439 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 70-181874 Preface Surveyor 3 was one of five automated spacecraft that successfully soft-landed and operated on the lunar surface, acquired a vast amount of new scientific and engineering data, and provided a firm foundation for subsequent manned landings on the Moon. When we designed and launched these Surveyors, there was no plan for them to be visited 1)y astronauts in subsequent manned missions. Some of us, however, had the quiet hope that, at some later date, astronauts would walk up to a landed Surveyor, examine and photograph it and the surrounding terrain, and remove and return to Earth selected components for engineering and scientifc studies. Such an opportunity was provided by the Apollo 12 mission. Thirty-one months after Surveyor 3 landed, the crew of Apollo 12 photographed the spacecraft and its landing site, and removed and brought back a number of selected components. These parts, which included the television camera, were analyzed to determine the effects on the hardware of the long exposure to the lunar environment. The returned material and photographs have been studied and evaluated bv 40 teams of engineering and scientific investigators over a period of more than 1 ),ear. A few tasks are still in process and several proposals for additional studies have been received. This report represents a compilation of the main engineering and scientific results to date. Engineering studies of the television camera show that the complex electromechanical components, optics, and solid-state electronics were remark- ably resistant to the severe lunar surface environment over 32 lunar day/night cycles with their extremes of temperature and long exposure to solar and cosmic radiation. These results indicate that the state of technology, even as it existed some years ago, is capable of producing reliable hardware that makes feasible long-life lunar and planetary installations. Scientific studies of the returned Surveyor parts provide new data in many fields and provide further confirmation that specially designed recoverable experiments should have great value in the study of the space environment. BENJAMIN _IL'_VITZKY Assistant Director, Engineering (Special Projects) Apollo Program MaY 1971 iii Contents PAGE INTRODUCTION 1 W. F. Carroll, R. Davis, M. Goldfine, S. ]acobs, L. D. ]affe, L. Leger, B. Milwitzky, and N. L. Nickle II SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS N. L. Nickle and W. F. Carroll III RETURNED SURVEYOR 3 HARDWARE: ENGINEERING RESULTS 15 W. F. Carroll, P. M. Blair, ]r., E. I. Hawthorne, S. ]acobs, and L. Leger IV SPACECRAFT CHANGES 23 PanT A. Lunar Dust and Radiation Darkening of Surveyor 3 Surfaces 23 W. F. Carroll and P. M. Blair, ]r. PAnT B. Characterization of Dust on Clear Filter From Returned Surveyor 3 Television Camera 29 D. M. Robertson, E. L. Gafford, H. Tenny, and R. S. Strebin, ]r. PAnT C. Debris on the Surveyor 3 Mirror 46 M. ti. Carr and S. 1. Proudfoot PAnT D. Dynamic Considerations of Dust on the Television Cam- era Mirror 51 N. L. Nickle PAnT E. Changes in Optical Properties of the Surveyor 3 Camera 60 1. Rennilson, tt. Holt, and K. Moll PAnT F. Particle Impact and Optical Property Analysis of the Surfaces of Surveyor 3 Materials 76 D. L. Anderson, B. E. Cunningham, R. G. Dahms, and R. G. Morgan PAnT G. Examination of Surveyor 3 Parts With the Scanning Electron Microscope and Electron Microprobe 89 A. A. Chodos, 1. R. Devaney, and K. C. Evans PnnT H. Sputter-Ion Source Mass Spectrometer Analysis of Sam- ples Cut From the Surveyor 3 Camera 91 F. G. Satkiewicz and F. F. 3Iarmo PAnT I. Blowing of Lunar Soil by Apollo 12: Surveyor 3 Evidence 94 L. D. ]affe ANALYSIS OF SUI]VEYOR 3 lkfATERIAL AND I)IIOTOCRAPII_ PAGE PART J. Low-Temperature Oxygen-Plasma Elfccts on Surveyor Plasmo-(Jhty Coating 96 R. B. Gillette PAnT K. Examination of the Surveyor 3 Surface Sampler Scoop 100 R. F. Scott and K. A. Zuckerman Palvr L. Movement of the Surveyor 3 Spacecraft 114 R. F. Scvtt, T.-D. Lu, and K. A. Zuckerman Pau'r M. Analysis of Surveyor 3 Television Cable 119 F. C. ('ross and 1. 1. Park V ORGANIC CONTAMINATION ANALYSIS 127 l tigh-I{esolution Mass Spectrom_tric Analysis of Surface Organics on Selected Areas of Surveyor 3 127 B. R. Simoneit and A. L. Burlingamc VI MICR()METEOI_ITE IMPACT ANALYSES 143 PAI_,T A. Primary and Secondary .Micrometeoroid Impact Rate on the Iamar Surface: A Direct Meastlrcment 143 I). Brou'nlee, _V. Bucher, aml P. llod_e PA1_T B. Preliminary Examination of Surveyor 3 (h)ml)onents for hnpact Phenomena 151 D. S. tlallgren, A. T. Laudate, R. P. Schu'arz, _V. D. Radi_zan, and C. L. llemenway PAnT C. Examination of Sample of Surveyor 3 Strut for Meteoroid hnpacts 153 L. Zernow PAnT !). Surface Studies on Surveyor 3 Tubing Sections 154 E. A. Buvinger PAnT E. Results of Examination of the Returned Surveyor 3 Samples for Particulate Iml_aets 158 B. (;. Cour-Palais, R. E. Flaherty, R. _V. lligh, D. ]. Kessler, D. S. McKay, and tl. A. Zovk PAnT F. Microcrater hwestigatinns <m Surveyor 3 .Material 167 E. Schncirh'r, (;. Ncukum, A. 31ehl, and II. Fechtig PAn'r G. Lunar Surface: Changes in :31 Months and Micromete- oroid Flux 173 L. D. Jaffe VII RAI)IOACTIVITY AND RADIATION I)AMA(',E ANAI,YSES 177 PAn'r A. Examination of Returned Surveyor :3 Camera Visor for Alpha Radioactivity 177 7'. E. Economou and A. L. Turkevich PAnT B. Preliminary Results on Tritium in Surveyor 3 Material 180 E. L. Fireman B. G. Cour-Palais, R. E. Flaherty, R. W. Iligh, D. 1. CONTENTS vii PAGE PART C. High-Voltage Transmission Microscopy of Surveyor 3 Camera Shrouds 184 R. 31. Fisher, W. R. Duf, L. E. Thomas, and S. V. Radcliffe PAINT I). Solar and Galactic Cosmic-Ray Exposure of Surveyor 3 as Determined From Cosmogenic Radionuclide Measurements 196 L. A. Rancitelli, R. W. Perkins, N. A. Wogman, and W. D. Felix VIII SOLAR WIND RARE GAS ANALYSIS 201 Trapped Solar Wind Ilclium and Neon in Surveyor 3 Material 201 F. Biihler, P. Eberhardt, 1. Geiss, and 1. Schwarzmiiller IX PARTICLE TRACK ANALYSES PART A. Solar Particle Tracks in Glass From Surveyor 3 209 G. Crozaz and R. M. Walker PART B. Very tleavy Solar Cosmic Rays: Energy Spectrum and Implications for Lunar Erosion 213 R. L. Fleischer, II. B. Ilart, ]r., and G. M. Con_s'to¢:k PART C. Enhanced Emission of Iron Nuclei in Solar Flares 217 P. B. Price, I. D. tlutcheon, R. Cowsik, and D. ]. Barber PART 1). Solar Fhtres, the Lunar Surface, and Gas-Rich Meteorites 220 D. J. Barber, R. Cowsik, I. D. Ilutcheon, P. B. Price, and R. S. Rajah X SOIL PROPERTY ANALYSES 227 PART A. Bearing Strength of the Lunar Soil 227 L. D. 1affe PAINT B. Cracking of the Lunar Soil 233 L. D. 1affe PART C. Whiskers on the Moon 236 D. Brownlee, W. Bucher, and P. Ilodge XI MICROBE SURVIVAL ANALYSES 239 PAICT A. Surveyor 3: Bacterium Isolated From Lunar-Retrieved Television Camera 239 F. 1. Mitchell and W. L. Ellis PART B. Microbiological Sampling of Returned Surveyor 3 Elec- trical Cabling 248 M. D. Knittel, M. S. Favero, and 1t. H. Green APPENDIX A. SPACECRAFT ORIENTATION AND EXPO- SURE TO ENVIRONMENT 253 N. L. Nickle viii ANALYSIS OF SURVEYOR 3 NIATERIAL AND I-'HOTO(;ItAI:'HS PAGE APPENDIX 13. SURVEYOR 3 MATERIAI, ANALYSIS PLAN 261 N. L. Nicklc and W. F. Carroll APPENDIX C. SURVEYOR TELEVISION CAMERA -- SE- LECTED MATERIALS AND I_2LE(JTI/ONIC COMPONENTS 278 W. F. Carroll APPENDIX D. CATALOG OF SURVEYOR :3 PtIOTOGRAPHS FROM APOLLO 12 284 APPENDIX E. INDEX OF CONTRIBUTING AUTItORS 294 I. Introduction W. F. Carroll, R. Davis, M. Goldfine, S. Jacobs, L. D. laffe, L. Leger, B. Mihvitzky, and N. L. Nickle In November 1969, the Apollo 12 astronauts cause the articles were written independently of visited the Surveyor 3 spacecraft, which had one another, some differences in interpretation landed on the lunar surface 31 months earlier. may exist among them. Some of the investigations During the visit, the astronauts examined and are not yet complete and will be reported in ap- photographed the spacecraft and removed propriate technical journals. selected parts and enclosed soil for return to Rationale and Objectives Earth. The parts, soil, crew observations and photographs have been evaluated to obtain in- The reasons for biasing an Apollo mission to formation concerning the spacecraft hardware land near a Surveyor spacecraft on the Moon that could be of value to engineering design and and for expending extravehicular activity (EVA) to obtain scientific information that could pro- time to examine, photograph, and collect mate- vide a better understanding of lunar and space rial from a Surveyor and its immediate vicinity, environments. This evaluation has been under- and for returning this material, can be summa- taken by individuals and groups in various rized as organizations in the United States and abroad. (1) To improve the technology for designing, A summary of the engineering and scientific fabricating, and testing future spacecraft and results is presented in chapter II of this docu- lunar and planetary stations. ment. (2) To increase the understanding of lunar The primary examination of the hardware surface processes and rates by determining the relative to engineering performance was con- changes that occurred on the lunar surface and ducted by Hughes Aircraft Co.
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