LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2008 MAR Grand Format Air & Space Sale #6000  / 

58185

Lunar Receiving Lab Squeegee and Spring

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:1,000.00 USD Estimated At:2,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD
Lunar Receiving Lab Squeegee and Spring
<B>Lunar Receiving Lab Squeegee.</B></I> The Lunar Receiving Laboratory (LRL) is a facility at NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center that was constructed to quarantine astronauts and material brought back from the Moon. Used during the Apollo program, the LRL was designed to mitigate the risk of back-contamination. Following splashdown and recovery at sea, crews from Apollo 11, Apollo 12, and Apollo 14 walked from their helicopter to an isolation van on the deck of an aircraft carrier and were brought to the LRL for quarantine. Samples of rock, dust and soil collected by the astronauts were flown directly to the LRL and analyzed in glove-box vacuum chambers. The quarantine requirement was dropped beginning with Apollo 15, and the LRL is currently used for study, distribution and safe storage of lunar samples. This heavy duty squeegee was used inside the LRL, and bears the engraved markings "SL-016 S/N 001," possibly designed for use in the Sample Lab portion of the building. The textured handle bears unusual cutout sections on the sides and a hole drilled down the central core. The squeegee is accompanied by two-inch spring that appears to fit into the hollowed squeegee handle. Both items are wrapped/sealed in plastic, and the spring package bears a NASA tag indicating that it was last "Cleaned for Service" on July 30, 1971, five months after the last astronauts were quarantined in the LRL. Both items are in fine condition.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Miscellaneous Collectibles, Smal (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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