What tools would you take with you to the Moon?
If you are a veteran space traveler and lunar voyager, then based upon experience, you would probably have a pretty good idea what types of tools would come in handy on your next mission.
While NASA supplied sophisticated tool kits for spacecraft and spacesuit repair for the Apollo missions, John Young, a veteran of three prior space flights which included one lunar flight, then you have a fairly good idea of what little extra tools you personally might need to make a quick repair on a flight to the Moon.
John Young carried his own tools on Gemini X and Apollo X. Those tools ranged from screwdrivers to wrenches. On Apollo 16, he chose three small basic hand tools to place in his spacesuit pocket during pre-launch suit up. His choices were a flat head screwdriver, an awl and a screw threader. Each tool is four and a quarter (4.25”) inches long. The tools have different color handles which, individually, are red, white and blue.
Commander Young remembered that he carried the tools because they were small, handy and tools he had always been use to using.
The above photograph shows all three tools together with a US quarter for use as a scale which is approximately an inch in diameter.
As shown in the above photograph, on launch day the crew would enter the “Suiting Up Room” for the process of putting on their individual A7L-B Spacesuits. The “Suit Tech” would assist every astronaut into their suit, check the fit, pressure test the suit and inventory any items that the astronauts chose to carry in their suit pockets.
April 16, 1972 was launch day for Apollo 16. As described above, the crew entered the Suiting Up Room and proceeded to put on their suits prior to their launch to the lunar highlands of the Moon. As the crew dressed, Randolph H. Hester, the Mission Manager in the room presided over the inventorying of personal objects that each crew member placed in their suit pockets. He wrote those items into a mission checklist. A page from that checklist is shown below. The page lists the items that each crew member placed in their suits.
Written in Sequence 03-008, Mr. Hester writes, “1. CDR, a.) Hand Tools…” That line refers to Commander (CDR) John Young and these hand tools that he took with him on the flight. Mr. Hester signed and dated the page that recorded those details as highlighted on the list.
In 2009, John Young sold the tools at auction. John provided a personally signed letter of authenticity for the tools. Captain Young typed the letter on his own personal stationary and included it with the tools.
A close up of the tools shows a little rust brought on by the ravages of time. A time that started with a journey to the Moon.
Comments