Camera, Television, Lunar Rover, Apollo

RCA designed color television cameras like this one primarily for use on the Apollo lunar rovers. For astronauts on Apollo missions 15, 16, and 17, cameras like this training version were stored in an equipment bay in the lunar module (LM) descent stages. Mission commanders unpacked the cameras and put them on tripods to record early lunar activities such as unloading the rovers from the LM. Once attached to the lunar rovers, these television cameras could transmit footage directly to Earth via the Lunar Communications Relay Unit (an antenna) and using the power sources aboard the rovers. Researchers and scientists back on Earth could even remotely-control the television cameras to examine the lunar surface for themselves and track the astronauts as they explored areas around where they stopped the rovers.

NASA transferred this camera to the Museum in 1984.