Radiation...

[necronomicon]

Hi I am exceptionally interested in the Apollo moon conspiracies - Of all the things I think about this is the one that that occupies the majority of my brain processing time. I am particularly interested in any solar radiation data taken on the surface of the moon by either Apollo astronauts / their kit or robotic probes and wonder where one can obtain such info (having spent an awful lot of time some months ago trying to Google some I gave up) Is it possible to gauge moon radiation levels from the Earth (preferably in real time) and does anyone do this? is their data available? I would also like to see dimensionally accurate xsectional Apollo space suit diagrams/designs ie. materials and gauges etc. And I would like to know the conditions in which moon rock was brought back to earth i.e. was it stored in a vacuum? Was it exposed to air and what was the container material? -i.e. What was it contained in as in the contact surface area? etc What procedures were in place for preventing the moon rock from being contaminated with oxygen (for example) Does anyone know?

[Count Zero]

Hi necronomicon, and welcome to the board. That's an excellent set of questions. Though we might not have all of the answers, we can (hopefully) point you in the right directions to find them. When you do find answers, please flag them for the rest of us.

Now then:

I am exceptionally interested in the Apollo moon conspiracies - Of all the things I think about this is the one that that occupies the majority of my brain processing time.

A good starting place for the common conspiracy issues is www.clavius.org. Also check out

www.braeunig.us/space/ and
www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxapollo.html

Detailed and general information on the history and hardware of space exploration and Apollo can be found at

www.astronautix.com/ and
www.thespacerace.com/

The Apollo Lunar Surface Journal is an indespensible archive of facts, figures, photos, videos and science reports from the Apollo missions. Lastly, this site is a fabulous resource for original documents that trace the develoment and use of manned space hardware.

I am particularly interested in any solar radiation data taken on the surface of the moon by either Apollo astronauts / their kit or robotic probes and wonder where one can obtain such info

This is the Biomedical Results of Apollo. WARNING: It's a 576-page .pdf document, so it takes a long time to load, even with high-speed access. It includes chapters on

Radiation Protection and Instrumentation
A Study of the Biological Effects of HZE Galactic Cosmic Radiation
The Extravehicular Mobility Unit (better known as the space suit)

Is it possible to gauge moon radiation levels from the Earth (preferably in real time) and does anyone do this? is their data available?

Some information can be gleaned from Earth-based observatories, but the Van Allen Belts block a lot of the particle radiation, and our atmosphere stops both particles and high-energy EM (ultraviolet, x-ray & gamma ray) radiation. Satellites gather the best data in real time, and there are several doing it. The most famous of these is called SOHO, which was built by the European Space Agency. This data is crucially important to operating the hundreds of commercial communication, navigation and imaging satellites in orbit. This is an important point: Hoax believers have accused NASA of lying about radiation levels in space, but many nations have collected this data, and if it were not accurate, billions of dollars (rubles, euros, yen...) worth of satellites would be damaged or rendered inoperable.

I would also like to see dimensionally accurate xsectional Apollo space suit diagrams/designs ie. materials and gauges etc.

If you scroll to the bottom of this page, there's a bunch of articles about the EMU, including Volume 1 (144-page .pdf) and Volume 2 (134-page .pdf) of the EMU Operations Handbook for the advanced suits used on Apollo 15-17.

Note that in general concept and construction, Apollo moon suits aren't much different from the suits used this week by space-walkers on the International Space Station. They both function in a similar thermal radiation, and micrometeor environment. The main difference is that ISS suits don't have to worry about dust contamination.

And I would like to know the conditions in which moon rock was brought back to earth i.e. was it stored in a vacuum? Was it exposed to air and what was the container material? -i.e. What was it contained in as in the contact surface area? etc What procedures were in place for preventing the moon rock from being contaminated with oxygen (for example) Does anyone know?

Try this report on Lunar Sample Processing in the Lunar Receiving Laboratory High-Vacuum Complex. It's a 42-page .pdf file. Also this report on the Lunar Receiving Laboratory Project History.

[necronomicon]

Thank you Count Zero - Particularly for the 576 page pdf (which I am greatly enjoying reading :lol: )
Regarding the PRD (Personal Radiation Dosimeter) - I am assuming as the astronauts took this with them (inside their suits) on EVA's and carried it about with themselves during the whole of the mission ~ the total radiation received by the outer skin of the space suit during the whole mission would have been greater than the dose received by the astronaut? ~ indicated on page 112 as being between 0.16 and 1.14 rad or 160 (Apollo 7/8) to 1140 (Apollo 14) mrad. The information describes the construction of the space suit as consisting of an outer skin of beta glass coated in PTFE (to prevent irritation to the Astronauts skin etc) Now I am interested in whether the PTFE had any other functions i.e. whether it was responsible for maintaining suit pressure (my guess is it would have been at least partially responsible (taking into account the other components) ~ as it would seem difficult to guarantee an airtight "seal" using just the beta glass)
Now if you take Apollo 14 (worse case scenario) and simplify the total dose to the astronaut i.e. 570 mrad there (moon) 570 mrad back (earth) the suit could have been potentially unsafe on arrival (i.e. integrity dubious) Here is a link showing the effects of Gamma radiation (more ionizing radiation would cause greater damage?) to PTFE coated cable tested in a vacuum at Lockheed Martin’s Valley Forge, Pennsylvania facility in 1997
www.micro-coax.com/pages/technicalinfo/applications/21.asp
Admittedly not the best of comparisons although note the comments at the bottom of the page –

Both the terminated cable assemblies and unterminated cable were then exposed to a total of 200 Mrad of gamma radiation in a vacuum. The cable assemblies were removed from the radiation chamber and inspected for physical degradation after the following radiation levels:

Post 30 Mrad
Post 130 Mrad
Post 160 Mrad
Post 200 Mrad

After 130 Mrad, some minimum cracking (< 0.030” long) of the cable jacket was noticed on the UHB 088D and UHJ 088D cable assemblies directly behind a 0.250” bend point. No degradation was noticeable elsewhere along the cable which was uniformly wound to a radius of 1.75”. The cracking did not degrade with increased radiation exposure. No cracking or physical degradation of any kind was evident on the UHJ 205A or UHJ 311A test samples.

If you factor in synthetic polymer development has been incremental since the late 60’s early 70’s (far more grades with modified properties) then I guess this could have been potentially worse degradation wise for the suit skin back then if likewise “stressed” (under tension) and tested? BTW 0.030” = 30 thousandths of an inch probably similar to the layer thickness of this part of the space suit (my guess anyway as a gauge greater then 30 thou would be overly encumbering)

[gwiz]

necronomicon said:

And I would like to know the conditions in which moon rock was brought back to earth i.e. was it stored in a vacuum? Was it exposed to air and what was the container material? -i.e. What was it contained in as in the contact surface area? etc What procedures were in place for preventing the moon rock from being contaminated with oxygen (for example) Does anyone know?

The samples were mostly put into plastic bags as they were collected, though core samples remained in the coring tools and special metal containers were used for a few samples. Apart from a few samples which were too large, the moon rocks were sealed into airtight boxes before they were taken inside the LM. However, I believe some of the boxes may have leaked due to lunar dust on the seals, and most of the samples have picked up some contamination from the plastic of the sample collection bags.

[Count Zero]

necronomicon said:

Now I am interested in whether the PTFE had any other functions i.e. whether it was responsible for maintaining suit pressure (my guess is it would have been at least partially responsible (taking into account the other components) ~ as it would seem difficult to guarantee an airtight "seal" using just the beta glass)

It was not. Check out the above-referenced EMU Operations Handbook. The EMU had many layers. The liquid cooling garment (LCG) was inside the pressure suit, then came the pressure suit itself, which was basically rubber with bellows at the joints to to allow them to move under pressure. The outside of the rubber was covered with a nylon mesh that kept it from ballooning. Outside of the pressure layer was several layers (detailed on page 36/2-18 of Volume 1) of insulation, with beta cloth in the outermost layers.

Both the terminated cable assemblies and unterminated cable were then exposed to a total of 200 Mrad of gamma radiation in a vacuum. The cable assemblies were removed from the radiation chamber and inspected for physical degradation after the following radiation levels:

Post 30 Mrad
Post 130 Mrad
Post 160 Mrad
Post 200 Mrad

After 130 Mrad, some minimum cracking (< 0.030” long) of the cable jacket was noticed on the UHB 088D and UHJ 088D cable assemblies directly behind a 0.250” bend point. No degradation was noticeable elsewhere along the cable which was uniformly wound to a radius of 1.75”. The cracking did not degrade with increased radiation exposure. No cracking or physical degradation of any kind was evident on the UHJ 205A or UHJ 311A test samples.

Mrads with a capital "M" is megarads. mrads with a lower case "m" is millirads. If I read this correctly, this was "accellerated testing" on the cables - nuking the everlovin' bejesus out of them for a few days to simulate long-term exposure to lower radiation flux. This sort of testing is valid for nonbiological items (such as cables). The relationship between radiation and biological organisms is much more complex and dependent in part on the duration of exposure in addition to the dose rate.

I remember a joke article written several years ago describing tests to determine whether drinking water was safe in the long term. They performed accelerated testing on rats; administering the equivalent of a 5-years intake of water over a four-week testing period. The rats became extremely bloated and had to urinate almost constantly...

[necronomicon]

Mrads with a capital "M" is megarads. mrads with a lower case "m" is millirads

You must be right -

the Teflon insulation material in question has
demonstrated a tendency to embrittle and deteriorate when subjected to an
integrated radiation dose of 200 megarads. A total integrated dose (TID) of
200 megarads

Although It can get confusing i.e. form the NASA - srag-nt.jsc.nasa.gov/RadDocs/TM104782/techmemo.htm#ENVIRONMENT



Guess I NASA'd my units up again

[Count Zero]

necronomicon said:

Although It can get confusing i.e. form the NASA - srag-nt.jsc.nasa.gov/RadDocs/TM104782/techmemo.htm#ENVIRONMENT

You said it. Great link, btw. Thanks!