Hidden gems from the NASA photo archive

Great thread @Jones in LA , now I need to find a JBC bracelet!

To mark the landing of Apollo 15 today here is Dave Scott during his 3rd EVA with a nice shot of his Bulova Chronograph. The crystal popping off his Speedmaster just breaks my heart.

Great thread!!! I love these pics.

Here we go. Took a minute to sort my images and find it.

Again, one of my favorites as well. Dave Scott at Station 7 during EVA 2.

Man, these are all great pics...many thanks for the continued postings. Quick question: What is the purpose of the basic crosshairs...the "+"...that is present in the moon pics?

Probably more than you wanted to know but here is an exeprt from the full article found here.

http://history.nasa.gov/printFriendly/apollo_photo.html

"The Data Camera used on the lunar surface during the Apollo 11 mission and later Moon landings was a 500EL with additional modifications. A transparent glass Reseau plate, or register glass, engraved with grid markings was placed between the film magazine and the camera body, immediately in front of the film plane. The plate is engraved with crosses to form a grid and the intersections accurately calibrated to a tolerance of 0.002 mm. The crosses were recorded on every exposed film frame. From the markings, it is possible to calibrate distance and heights in photos taken either on the lunar surface or from space. Such markings were not new or unique to the space program. They were commonly used for large format scientific and aerial photography prior to the Moon landings, when the large size of the photographic negative could be distorted either during exposure or the printing process.

When film is normally wound in a camera, static electricity is generated on the film surface. This electricity is dispersed by metal rims and rollers, which guide the film, and by humidity in the surrounding air. In the lunar surface camera, however, the film was guided by the Reseau plate's raised edges. As glass is a poor electrical conductor, and with the absence of surrounding air, the charge built up between the glass surface and the film could become so great that sparks could occur between the plate and the film. In order to conduct the static electricity away and prevent sparking, the side of the plate facing the film was coated with a thin transparent conductive layer and silver deposited on the edges of the conductive layer. The electrical charge was then led to the metallic parts of the camera body by contact springs.

The outer surface of the 500EL data camera was colored silver to help maintain more uniform internal temperatures in the violent extremes of heat and cold encountered on the lunar surface. Lubricants used in the camera mechanisms had to either be eliminated or replaced because conventional lubricants would boil off in the vacuum and potentially could condense on the optical surfaces of the lenses, Reseau plate, and film."

I'm aware of only two failures of the Spedmaster on the surface of the Moon. Charlie Duke's on his 2nd EVA and Scott's on his 3rd.

Here is a great picture of Duke with the Speedmaster after it lost its crystal. This my friends is the original gray side of the Moon Speedmaster.



Charlie Duke discusses his damaged watch on EVA-3:

DUKE: Another comment on the EVA. We mentioned our failures, except one I failed to mention was that my watch blew a crystal on EVA-3 and it stopped running at that point. So the flight watch went belly up and I got it brought it back to let them examine it. But the crystal either blew out or broke, and I don't ever remember hitting it. The face of the watch doesn't look like it's scratched. So I think what happened is the crystal just blew out and we got dust in it, and the thing was just not running and that happened on EVA-3. That's it.

Reagarding Scott's failure and an answer to your question "Did the astronauts actuate the chronograph with gloves on? I would say yes after reading this account from the Apollo 15 Surface Journal.

142:14:22 Scott: "Verify cabin at 3.5." Okay, cabin's at 3.5. Suit circuit's locked up at about 4.4. My PGA is coming through 5 and decaying. And let's slip on a watch.

[Dave may have had his watch hanging from the instrument panel and, in any event, he is now putting it on and is probably starting the stopwatch function.]

[Scott, from a 1996 letter - "I do not recall ever having looked at my watch after egress. In the cabin after EVA-2, I noticed that the crystal of my Omega had popped off sometime during the EVA. Therefore, on EVA-3, I used my backup watch (which was) of a similar type. It worked just fine during the even higher temperatures of EVA-3."]

[In Dave's 1996 letter to me, he said that the back-up watch was a Waltham. After further researching the issue for an article on watches, Dave wrote in early 2014, "Frankly, back in 1996 I just made a mistake -- it was a Bulova, not a Waltham. When you asked in '96, things were a bit hazy after 25 years, and I hadn't fully researched many of the ancillary parts of the mission. However, more things are coming into focus these days as more people are researching Apollo." Dave has documentation that tells us that the backup watch he wore on the lunar surface was a Bulova Chronograph, Model #88510/01. The Part Number on the wrist band was SEB12100030-202.]

Here is probably the best image of Scott wearing the Bulova after the Speedmaster failure. Really pains me to say Speedmaster and failure in the same sentence but it is what it is.

Here is the exerpt from the Apollo 16 mission report regarding Duke's Speedmaster. I think this is all great reading.

"At depressurization, just prior to the third lunar extravehicular activity, the Lunar Module Pilot noted that his chronograph crystal was gone. The chronograph hands and face were not hit. However, about 12 minutes later the movement stopped. Most likely, warpage caused by thermal cycling allowed the differential pressure across the acrylic crystal to pop it out of the case. The exposure to and penetration of lunar dust contamination about the Lunar Module Pilot's sleeves probably caused the failure of the chronograph movement.
These chronographs are certified to a maximun temperature of 160° F. Testing has demonstrated that in the range of 190° F, the crystal is weakened to the point where internal pressure can push the crystal off. For the chronograph to reach a temperature of 190° F, direct continuous exposure to incident solar radiation normal to its surface is required for approximately 12 minutes.

These chronographs are tested at the Manned Spacecraft Center when received, again before shipment to the Kennedy Space Center and again just prior to flight. The Apollo chronograph is a secondary timing device and is not critical to mission success or crew safety. There are no plans for corrective action.

This anomaly is closed."

These guys were the smartest, gutsy, jocks around. And still are imho. m