Apollo Next Generation Sample Analysis Program (ANGSA)

Pristine Samples to be Examined by ANGSA

73001/73002
Unopened CSVC/drive tube
Soil collected  in double drive tube 809 g/430 g

15012/15013
SESC soil contents opened in an organic clean room in a helium cabinet. Twenty one subsamples of 15012 and 16 subsamples of 15013 were stored in He.

Frozen Samples
Frozen samples include subsamples of A17 drill core, subsamples of permanently shadowed soils 72320/76240, soil 70180 and rock 71036.

Special Types of Sample Containers Used During Apollo

• GASC: Gas analysis sampling container, 70cc worked, found solar wind gases and degassing gases.
• CSVC: Core Sample Vacuum Container
• SESC: Special Environment Sample Container 300cc.
• LESC: Lunar Environment Sample Container, A-12  270 gram sample collected only one time, same as SESC.
• CSSD: Contact Soil Sampler Device. poor sample collection, recently studied.
• MSSC: magnetic shield sample container not use on A-14, little info on the device. Worry about contamination of inner surfaces on container samples.

Special Environmental Sample Container

Collecting Pristine Samples During Apollo 17 Activities

Taurus Littrow Valley Image from LRO.

73001-73002 collected during the Apollo 17 mission to the Taurus Littrow Valley

73001-73002 is located on the light mantle deposit at station 3 approximately 50 meters east of the rim of Lara Crater.

70001 Deep drill core collected adjacent to Challenger LM between Camelot and the Central Cluster Craters.

Gases derived from the Lee-Lincoln Scarp

Landslide Deposit at Station 3

Image collected by LRO.
Core penetrates landslide material off of the South Massif.
Continuation of Apollo Goals: Sample gases that may be derived from fault.
Unique containment and unique geology.

Flying over Taurus Littrow Valley
Courtesy of Noah Petro and the LRO team

Panorama image of Station 3 on Landslide Deposit

73001 (bottom) and 73002 (top) are core from double drive tube. Neither sample has been examined.
73001 is the bottom segment of the drive tube. Inserted into CSVC and sealed
73001 = 809 grams, depth 70.6 +5 cm, 73002 = 430 grams, depth of 35.7+5 cm.
Estimated temperature of collection 250°K.

Astronauts collecting drive tube at station 3

Collecting Pristine Samples During Apollo 17 Activities Deep Drill Core

Apollo 17 drill core collection

Extracting Gas From Special Sample Containers During the Apollo Program

Gas sampling simulation. Randy Wilkins (Gas Lab) "operating" the valves of a gas manifold on top the F201.  This manifold contained two RGA (residual gas analyzers -- mass spectrometers), whose electronics were upstairs.  A flexible probe connected to this went into the F201 and was used to probe the Ap-11 ALSRC.

The F201 also had a "port" whereby a small sample was sent to the chemistry lab on floor below for the gas reaction experiment, also run by the Gas Lab.

Apollo Gas Analysis Lab Crew