Zero Halliburton celebrates this towering achievement, the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, on its 50th anniversary, and reflects on our role to support the mission with a five-part series: Precious Cargo.
The moment its five massive engines roared to life, Apollo 11’s crew was confronted with a brutally unforgiving reality: Controlling the jaw-dropping explosion required to generate 7.5 million pounds of thrust just to leave the launch pad would be the first of countless challenges to traveling and working in space. From 500-degree temperature swings and zero gravity, to metal-vaporizing re-entry temperatures and multi-G accelerations, space is a very unfriendly place for humans and their gear.
The success of Apollo 11 is the remarkable story of more than a decade of tireless effort by hundreds of thousands of men and women to invent and engineer every piece of hardware and software that became the Apollo 11 spacecraft.
When it came to developing the tools needed to accomplish the second part of the Apollo 11 mission, “to return with samples from another planetary body,” the hostile, alien environment of space again made invention necessary. Hammers, shovels, rakes and the containers to hold lunar samples had to be re-engineered so they could do their job on the lunar surface. Tools had to be smaller, lighter and stronger. And the container that Zero Halliburton helped create to protect the most priceless cargo in history on the 240,000-mile trip back to earth was no exception.
Lunar samples were collected, placed into collection bags and then packed into the containers. Special aluminum mesh padding cushioned the samples from the harsh vibration of rockets firing, re-entry and splashdown. The aluminum alloy cases had a triple seal and were airtight to preserve the vacuum of the lunar surface, and keep out moisture and contamination.
During the trip to the moon, the Apollo Lunar Sample Return Containers (ALSRC) were stored in the Modular Equipment Storage Assembly (MESA). The MESA was located in the descent stage of the lunar module, with sample collection tools and other gear.
Apollo 11 lunar sample collection tools included a hammer, tongs, a box-shaped scoop and an extension handle. By using a single, longer handle that attached to the shorter tools, engineers were able to save weight and space. Later Apollo flights had a much greater array of tools, including chisels, rakes and battery-powered drills.
Lunar samples were placed inside the “rock boxes,” which were then stored in the ascent stage of the lunar module for the trip back to the orbiting command module. A special conveyor system was designed to hoist the boxes up to the lunar module, but the astronauts found it difficult to use, and instead carried the cases up the lunar module’s ladder.
Before anything was removed from the lunar surface and placed in collection bags, it was photographed. Visual documentation of the context of each sample – its location and relationship to surrounding objects – tells an invaluable story about its history to scientists. A specially designed instrument called a gnomon was used to calibrate sample size, color and orientation on the ground.
The impact that forms a crater uncovers material from below the lunar surface by projecting it out onto the surface. The debris around a crater is essentially a core sample; the deepest material is found closest to the crater rim, while material closer to the surface is found farther away. Astronauts made the most of this fact with a collection procedure known as radial sampling. By collecting samples at different distances from the crater’s rim, astronauts were effectively collecting material from a range of depths below the lunar surface, no digging required.
Apparently, the secret to successful interplanetary travel begins with a simple tool: the humble to-do list. Apollo 11 astronauts didn’t flip a switch or take a step without precise direction from a meticulously planned checklist. So when Armstrong and Aldrin headed out for the first walk on the lunar surface in human history, they took a to-do list to guide them through every activity. In fact, it was sewn directly onto their gloves.
In 1969, Apollo 11 represented the pinnacle of human achievement. Fifty years later, the mission is considered a marvel of innovation and engineering excellence. Episode 3 reveals how the extreme requirements of the mission stretched the limits of product engineering and technology.
The Saturn Apollo mission was the most ambitious exercise in human exploration ever undertaken. In a blink, the smallest performance anomaly in any component could escalate to system-wide catastrophic failure. From aluminum containers Zero Halliburton helped create to Omega timepieces and Hasselblad cameras, only the most durable, dependable equipment was good enough to meet the performance standards required to make the trip to the moon.
Zero Halliburton is proud to have been a part of the historic journey of Apollo 11. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of this monumental achievement, we’ve created a limited-edition aluminum tech case, inspired by the containers that brought the most precious cargo in history back from the moon.
The Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Limited Edition Case shares the same DNA as the containers that brought the first lunar samples back. Tastefully engraved with the official NASA Apollo 11 50th anniversary logo, these cases are durable, secure, flawlessly crafted, and provide ultimate protection for your most precious cargo.
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