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Apollo Lunar Surface Drill Titanium Lunar Core Stems Set and Carbide Auger Bore Tool

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:40,000.00 - 50,000.00 USD
Apollo Lunar Surface Drill Titanium Lunar Core Stems Set and Carbide Auger Bore Tool

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Auction Date:2019 Apr 18 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:15th Floor WeWork, Boston, Massachusetts, 02108, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Collection of six titanium core stem tubes designed for use with the Apollo Lunar Surface Drill (ALSD) to take long samples of lunar soil, plus one carbide core stem drill bit. Five of the core stem tubes measure 16.75? long, and one measures 15.25? long, while the drill bit measures 2.5? long; all have a diameter of approximately 1?. Fitted together, the entire tube assembly measures 95.5?. Each of the core tube stems bear white stripes of paint, and all are hand-engraved with part numbers: the short tube is marked "PS 600 1000 22-007, 072," and the long tubes are marked "PS 600 1000 22-005," with serial numbers "070," "071," "074," and "079." The bit is unmarked. The core stem tubes are made of titanium alloy (A1-4V), and the bit is made of heat-treated 5150 steel with tungsten carbide cutting blades. In overall very good to fine condition. The consignor, a former Johnson Space Center employee, notes that these were given to him by Ralph Foster, an Apollo lunar tool engineer who worked in the Building 10 fabrication facility at the Manned Spacecraft Center; these articles were left over from the canceled Apollo missions.

The Apollo Lunar Surface Drill was deployed on Apollo 15, 16, and 17, consisting of a battery-powered motor with specialized drill bits and modular core stems. The system was designed to extract columns of lunar regolith to return to Earth, and to create holes for the placement of two heat flow probes. These rigid but hollow core stem tubes allowed astronauts to drill up to ten feet into the lunar surface and extract soil samples; once removed, the tubes could be capped for their return to Earth for study. A unique example of an important lunar tool.