poster on the blackvault asks a question

[jaydeehess]

A poster asked

I came across a couple of moon landing pictures that appeared to show wires running along the ground of the moon. Does anyone know if we used "wired" things on the moon? I have never come across this before and I am a picture junkie for space photos. I can post one if it is shown to be unusual.

Thanks in advance for any help in clearing this matter up.

I would assume that some of the experiments indeed were wired together or to the lander.
Anyone have some specifics?

I asked the poster which mission, no reply yet.

[laurel]

What about the heat flow experiment? When Charlie Duke was deploying it on Apollo 16, he specifically mentioned that, "The probe is in the left hand, and the wires are not crossed."
history.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/a16.heatflow.html

For Apollo 17, "At the end of the first EVA, Cernan used the Rover to draw two sets of tracks which crossed each other at right angles and upon which he and Schmitt then laid out antenna wires for the SEP's radio-frequency transmitter."
history.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/a17.summary.html

[Nowhere Man]

The Apollo 11 TV camera was attached to the LM with a cable. The guys kept snagging their boots on it.

Fred

[gonetoplaid]

The Apollo missions also had miniature power plants called the SNAP-27 radioisotope thermoelectric generator which they left on the moon's surface. Cables from these mini power plants powered the various scientific experiments left on the moon. See:

www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/attm/la.s27.1.html

as well as the page after that by clicking on the Next button in the page.

[sts60]

The SNAP-27 RTGs powered the ALSEP experiments, which were deployed over a span up to roughly 100 meters. The central station was connected to the RTG a short distance away, and to the various other experiments, by cables. ALSEPs were deployed on Apollo 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17, and operated until they were shut down in 1977.

[Kiwi]

There are even jokes about wires on the ground:

Apollo 17 - EVA-1 - Sep site - Antennae Problems
122:56:51 Schmitt: Okay, I won't bore you with details on why you see the antenna all over the ground (chuckles), but it has to do with one-sixth g.
122:57:10 Parker: Roger, Jack. Understand you dropped a couple of the antenna reels.
[In Houston, Bob is being told that the antenna reels and wires can rapidly become a "Chinese Puzzle" unless they are untangled very carefully.]
122:57:13 Schmitt: ...More accurately, I dropped three of them.

And five minutes later:

Apollo 17 - EVA-1 - Sep site - More Antennae Problems
123:02:28 [Jack heads south; Gene drops his antenna.]
123:02:29 Cernan: Oh, (sub-vocally) [bad word deleted]...
123:02:34 Schmitt: (Taunting) Ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha. Serves you right.
[Jack returns to the transmitter; Gene retrieves the antenna with his tongs.]

[jaydeehess]

Thank you all,
I will post this info to that thread and see if woo follows