Earth's Moon - Apollo 12

Astronaut Alan Bean hammers a core tube into the lunar soil

Earth's Moon
Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean pounds a core tube into the ground with a hammer. The tube was used to collect soil samples from deep below the surface without disturbing the layering as digging a hole would do. The lunar regolith was loose and easy to penetrate near the surface, but a short ways down it was highly compacted making it difficult to push the core tube down, necessitating the use of a hammer. Commander Charles "Pete" Conrad took this photograph on the second moonwalk EVA. (Apollo 12, AS12-H-49-7286)
Larger image: 297K

High resolution jpg file (3.2M)

Location & Time Information
Date/Time (UT): 1969-11-20 T 07:36
Distance/Range (km): 0.01
Central Latitude/Longitude (deg): -3.01, 23.42
Orbit(s): N/A

Imaging Information
Area or Feature Type: surface image, astronaut
Instrument: Hasselblad Camera
Instrument Resolution (pixels): Film Type - SO 164
Instrument Field of View (deg): 60 mm Focal Length
Filter: None
Illumination Incidence Angle (deg): N/A
Phase Angle (deg): N/A
Instrument Look Direction: N/A
Surface Emission Angle (deg): N/A

Ordering Information
CD-ROM Volume: N/A
NASA Image ID number: AS12-H-49-7286
Other Image ID number:
NSSDC Data Set ID (Photo): 69-099A-01D
NSSDC Data Set ID (CD): N/A
Other ID: N/A

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[NASA Logo] Authors/Curators:

Dave Williams, dave.williams@nasa.gov, (301) 286-1258
Code 690.1, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

Jay Friedlander, jay.s.friedlander@nasa.gov, (301) 286-7172
Code 612.4, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

NASA Official: Dr. David R. Williams, David.R.Williams@nasa.gov
Last updated: 24 September 2015