Development Model, Aseptic Sampler, Apollo

As part of NASA's response to the National Academy of Sciences report on back contamination, considerable effort was devoted to developing special sampling devices to ensure that scientists could study returned lunar materials with no fear that the samples were contaminated with microbes transported from Earth. Although eventually removed from the list of devices used by Apollo astronauts, the "aseptic sampler" was built by the Union Carbide Corporation at its Y 12 facility in Oak Ridge Tennessee. The device was to be mounted on deployable feet and operated by astronauts at a distance to collect soil samples with a coring device. The sample was to be remotely extracted and deposited in a sterile plastic bag, which could be sealed before stowage in an Apollo Lunar Surface Return Container. Although the Apollo 11 astronauts underwent considerable training using the device, it frequently malfunctioned leading to the decision to exclude it from the actual Apollo 11 mission.

This developmental version of the aseptic sampler was transferred to the Smithsonian in 1972.