Apollo Lunar Surface
Experiment Package (ALSEP)
Lunar Portable Magnetometer
(LPM)
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Apollo 16 LPM, deployed off the rover. There is a rock
on top of the sensor head, which was measured on site for it's magnetic
field, then brought back to earth as a control sample to determine how
it was effected by the equipment in the LM & CSM during the trip. (The
black streaks on the image were caused by lunar dust getting into the camera.
The dust was a constant problem with the equipment, and it was responsible
for lots of camera jams and lost pictures).
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Left: Pre-flight photo of the LPM
Right: Matching diagram to photo at left
Apollo Experiment Number: S 198
Apollo Missions: 14, 16
Wt: 4.6 kg
Dim: 56 x 15 x 14 cm, stowed
The sensor block stood 75 cm above the lunar surface when
deployed.
The LPM was invented in response to a magnetometer
reading taken at the A 12 site which was much higher than anticipated.
It was carried on the geological traverse on A14 on the Modularized Equipment
Trasporter (MET) and on A16 on the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV).
It was a smallish device which consisted of an electronics
box connected by a cable to tripod-mounted sensor, which the astronaut
would deploy during a few of the stops along the traverse.
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