Apollo Lunar Surface
Experiment Package (ALSEP)
Cosmic Ray Detector (CRD)
- Apollo 16
Lunar Surface Cosmic
Ray Experiment (LSCRE) - Apollo 17
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Apollo 16 CRD on (+Y) footpad of LM, facing away
from sun. The ALSEP quad (LM quad II) is at upper right, with the RTG cask
deployed & the nuclear fuel already removed. Note the rock next to
the footpad, which CDR John Young missed landing on by about an inch!
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Left - Different view of the image above
Right - Apollo 17 LSCRE on secondary stut of LM landing
leg
Apollo Experiment Number: S 152
Apollo Missions: 16, 17
Wt: 163 g (LSCRE)
Dim: 5 x 18.4 x 30 cm (CRD, folded for return)
22.5 x 6.3
x 1.1 cm (LSCRE)
The CRD & LSCRE were passive devices consisting
of known thicknesses of plastic or foil which were left outside the LM
for exposure to the cosmic rays streaming in from deep space. This was
similar to, but even simpler than the Solar Wind
Composition (SWC) experiment. The A16 array was a largish frame-mounted
system of foils while the A17 system consisted of 2 small plastic frames
that were hung on the LM struts - one in the sun and one in the shade (as
a control sample).
Of the two experiments, the A16 CRD gave the crew
a lot more problems than its' counterpart on the next mission. First, it
failed to deploy properly, then temparature sensitive tapes indicated it
was over heating and finally the samples were almost impossible to remove
from their frames.
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