LUNAR DATA PROJECT: APOLLO DATA RESTORATION AND UPDATE David R. Williams1, H. Kent Hills2, Edward A. Guinness3, Patrick T. Taylor4, and Marie J. McBride5

1 NSSDC, Code 690.1, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, david.r.williams@nasa.gov 2 ADNET Systems, Inc., NSSDC, Code 690.1, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, howard.k.hills@nasa.gov 3 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 63130, guinness@wustl.edu

4 Code 698, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, patrick.t.taylor@nasa.gov 5 Florida Institute of Technology, 150 W. University, Box 6647, Melbourne, FL 32901, mmcbride2009@my.�t.edu

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Long-term surface data were collected by autonomous stations placed on the surface of the Moon by the Apollo astronauts. The ALSEP (Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package) stations were placed by the crews of the Apollo 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 missions. The astronauts also collected data directly at the surface during their stays on the Moon, and instruments collected data from lunar orbit on the Command and Service Module. Unfortunately, much of these data were never archived and are now in danger of being lost. Even data that have been archived are often on media, such as microfilm or microfiche, or on computer tapes in obsolete formats, and do not lend themselves to easy distribution or analysis.

The Lunar Data Project (LDP) and Lunar Data Node (LDN) were formed at the National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) to restore relevant, scientifically important Apollo data into accessible digital form. The LDN operates under the auspices of the Geosciences Node of the Planetary Data System (PDS). The ALSEP data in particular represent the only long-term information on the lunar surface environment, and as such are critical for studying the lunar domain and planning future lunar exploration. These data cover time periods from the lunar landings (1969-1972) until ALSEP turn-off on September 30, 1977.

The data are generally archived at NSSDC although some have been uncovered elsewhere by the LDP or memebers of the NLSI Lunar Focus Group. Depending on original format, the data are being scanned from hardcopy or microform or read from magnetic media and converted into easily usable and transportable digital form. Metadata, ancillary data to aid in the use and understanding of the data, are also being collected from various sources (science reports, instrument manuscripts, archived microfilm and microfiche records, personal communications with instrument scientists) and incorporated into the individual data sets. This will include complete descriptions of the data, formats, processing history, instruments and missions, and contact information and relevant references. These data sets will be made available online and archived with NSSDC and the Planetary Data System to assure widespread distribution to the scientific and engineering communities.

LEAM

The Lunar Ejecta and Meteorites Experiment, part of the Apollo 17 ALSEP, measured the frequency, direction, and energy of small particle impacts at the lunar surface. The P.I. (Otto Berg) notebooks have been scanned and 5 months of raw data have been extracted from the ALSEP telemetry tapes. The raw data are being reformatted into tabular files with metadata describing each reading. Both the raw data and the scanned notebooks will be packaged as

Lunar Data Node Experiment Media Apollo Mission Status

Solar Wind Spectrometer Mag. Tapes 12, 15 At PDSCold Cathode Ion Gauge Microfilm 14, 15 At PDSTraverse Gravimeter Microfilm 17 At PDSSoil Mechanics Microfilm 15, 16 At PDSX-Ray Spectrometer Mag. Tapes 15, 16 ReviewedHeat Flow Experiment Mag. Tapes 15, 17 ReviewedDust Detector Microfilm 14, 15 ReviewedLunar Ejecta and Meteorites Hardcopy 17 ScannedLunar Atmos. Comp. Exper. Mag. Tapes 17 Digital FormActive Seismic (Thumper) Mag. Tapes 14, 16, 17 Digital FormLunar Ejecta and Meteorites Tapes 17 In ProcessCharged Particle Environment Mag. Tapes 14 In ProcessIR Radiometer Mag. Tapes 17 In ProcessSIDE Total Ion Energy Mag. Tapes 12, 14, 15 In ProcessHorizon Glow Densitometer Hardcopy 16 In ProcessMagnetometer Mag. Tapes 12, 14, 15, 16 LASERGamma Ray Spectrometer Mag. Tapes 15, 16 LASERSurface Electrical Properties Microfilm 17 LASERARCSAV Tapes Mag. Tapes All LASERHousekeeping (Word 33) Data Digital All LASERALSEP Weekly Reports Scanned All LASER Mass Spectrometer Microfilm 15, 16 LASERFar-UV Spectrometer Microfilm 17 LASERSurface Electrical Properties Tapes 17 LASER Proposal

Mission Instrument N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A SApollo 12 Lunar Surface MagnetometerApollo 12 Solar Wind SpectrometerApollo 12 SIDE - Mass AnalyzerApollo 12 SIDE - Total Ion EnergyApollo 12 Dust Detector (raw counts)Apollo 12 Cold Cathode Ion GageApollo 14 Dust DetectorApollo 14 SIDE - Total Ion EnergyApollo 14 SIDE - Mass AnalyzerApollo 14 CPLEEApollo 14 Cold Cathode Ion GageApollo 15 Lunar Surface MagnetometerApollo 15 Solar Wind SpectrometerApollo 15 SIDE - Mass AnalyzerApollo 15 SIDE - Total Ion EnergyApollo 15 Heat FlowApollo 15 Cold Cathode Ion GageApollo 15 Dust DetectorApollo 16 Lunar Surface MagnetometerApollo 16 Active SeismicApollo 17 LACEApollo 17 Heat FlowApollo 17 Lunar Seismic ProfilingApollo 17 Lunar Surface GravimeterApollo 17 Lunar Ejecta and Meteorites

ALSEP Work TapesALSEP Status Reports

SIDE - Suprathermal Ion DetectorCPLEE - Charged Particle Lunar Environment

LACE - Lunar Atmospheric Composition ExperimentALSEP - Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package

Digital (raw)Digital ASCII / OnlinePDS Data Set

Instrument not operated during this period

1972

Microfilm/Microfiche/HardcopyScanned Microfilm/Microfiche/Hardcopy

Magnetic TapeInstrument operational, no data at NSSDCIntermittent operation, no data at NSSDC

197769 1973 1974 1975 19761970 1971

Future Work

A PDS review was held for a number of data sets which have now been archived in PDS or are under lien resolution. A LASER proposal has been recently accepted to restore data and ancillary information from the Apollo 15 and 16 Gamma-Ray Spectrometer, Apollo 15 and 16 Mass Spectrometer, Apollo 17 Surface Electrical Properties, Apollo 17 Far-UV Spectrometer, ALSEP Engineering data, Apollo 17 Densitometer scans, and various reports and indexes. Continuing restoration of other data sets continues as shown in the status charts.

Heat Flow

The Apollo 15 and 17 missions deployed two heat flow probes each in the lunar regolith. The instruments returned data for about 5 years, we have read a subset of the data from magnetic tapes archived at NSSDC and produced digital tables of time and temperature readings. The associated metadata have been written and the data set has been through PDS review and is now in lien resolution.

CPLEE

The Charged Particle Lunar Environment Experiment on Apollo 14 measured the energy spectra of low energy particles striking the lunar surface. It consisted of two electrostatic analyzers and operated for over 6 years. The data were archived at NSSDC on magnetic tape in SDS 92 binary format. These have been read and translated to Common Data Format (CDF) to be put on the online CDAWeb system and will soon be packaged and archived through PDS.

Soil Mechanics

The Apollo 15 and 16 astronauts employed an instrument called the self-recording penetrometer. Pushed into the lunar regolith by the astronauts, it measured the resistance to penetration with depth on a metal drum which was returned to Earth. The results of this experiment were handwritten tables and plots, copied onto microfilm and archived at NSSDC. The microfilm records have been scanned, digital tables have been produced, and ancillary data such as site photographs, video of surface operations, and transcript records have been added. The data sets are complete and archived with PDS.

Traverse Gravimeter

The Traverse Gravimeter was carried on the Apollo 17 Lunar Rover. Gravity readings were taken by the astronauts at various stops during the EVA traverses over 3 days. The data were stored on microfilm and hard copy in the form of tables. Digital tables have been created, metadata added and packaged into a PDS formatted data set, which has been reviewed and is now archived with PDS.

LACE

The Lunar Atmospheric Composition Experiment measured the tenuous lunar atmosphere as part of the Apollo 17 ALSEP. The original data, stored in IBM 360 binary format, were read from magnetic tape and have been coverted to ASCII. These tables will be archived and put online. Appropriate metadata and ancillary information are being compiled and will be added and the entire data set validated and archived at PDS.

DTREM

The Dust, Thermal, and Radiation Engineering Measurement experiment, also known as the dust detector experiment, was carried on Apollo 11, 12, 14, and 15. A set of microfilm holding raw and calibrated DTREM data for Apollos 14 and 15 is held at NSSDC, we have scanned the microfilm and created a data set of the raw scans which has undergone PDS review and is now in lien resolution. The raw data have been read from the ALSEP housekeeping tapes and we have used the microfilm data to back out the data formats and calibrations so a digital calibrated data set can be produced from the raw data. We will also archive the raw data from Apollo 11 and 12.

PDS

Lunar Data Node Restoration Status

ALSEP Data Coverage