Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Apollo Moon Landings
by Jay Barbree, Howard Benedict, Alan Shepard, Deke Slayton and Neil Armstrong · 1 Jan 1994 · 469pp · 124,784 words
had to scurry back inside Eagle, at least they would have a tiny sample of lunar soil. He managed a smile as he tucked the contingency sample safely away, and with their lunar lander systems hitting on all cylinders, Buzz was eager to follow. Fifteen minutes passed and Mission Control gave Aldrin
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the moon’s surface. “It’s a very soft surface,” Neil radioed back to Mission Control. “But here and there where I bored with the contingency sample collector, I ran into a very hard surface. It appears to be a very cohesive material of some sort.” What he described astounded and fascinated
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. What was Shepard going to do now? “Houston,” he paused for effect, “you might recognize what I have in my hand . . . the handle for the contingency sample. It just so happens to have a genuine six-iron on the bottom.” Controllers gaped. Shepard reached into a pouch of his suit and held
A Man on the Moon
by Andrew Chaikin · 1 Jan 1994 · 816pp · 242,405 words
space suit thigh and pulled out a collapsible long-handled scoop, technicians with headphones could hear his controlled but labored breathing. “We’re beginning the contingency sample,” Armstrong said. “I have the collector . . Standing at the sidelines, a fully suited Buzz Aldrin watched his commander at work and waited for the proper
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to move around than he had expected. He knew that the first order of business was to collect a small bag of soil, called the contingency sample, that would serve as the scientists’ hedge against an aborted moonwalk. But he would do that in sunlight, and he wanted to take care of
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turned, he saw the same peculiar transformation from bright tan to ashen gray he’d seen from the LM windows. And when he held the contingency sample in his hand, the mystery of the moon’s color deepened: The soil in the bag was almost black, like powdered graphite. Holding the now
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and saw a small Teflon bag filled with black soot. Armstrong laughed, “You’d never have guessed, huh?” “What was that bag?” Collins asked. “The contingency sample,” Armstrong said. “Any rocks?” “Yes, there’s some rocks in it too. You can feel ’em, but you can’t see ’em. They’re covered
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,” Shepard announced, “I have a little white pellet that’s familiar to millions of Americans . . .” In his right hand, he held the handle from the contingency sample collector, now slightly modified: it had a genuine six-iron at the end of it. His pressurized suit was so stiff that he had to
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by Aldrin as part of documentary photography of the lunar module and the moon itself. The photograph in Cernan’s office shows Armstrong collecting the contingency sample; it is an enlargement made from 16mm movie film. 571 “No wonder I was in troubleIn John Preston, “Buzz: The man who fell to Earth
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— 262, 263, 265, 367 Armstrong’s first words during, 205-6, 209, 261 cameras in, 146, 209-10, 212, 217, 624, 647 checklist for, 148 contingency sample in, 209, 210, 217 documented sample in, 217 exploration in, 216-17, 265 footprints left by, 281, 624 g-forces in, 204, 216 hammer used
Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto
by Alan Stern and David Grinspoon · 2 May 2018 · 323pp · 94,156 words
Earth. The solution to this challenge was called the “fail-safe” data transmission. When he conceived it, Alan likened it to astronaut Neil Armstrong’s “contingency sample” collection, the first thing Armstrong did after stepping onto the Moon in 1969. Then the logic was to have something to show scientifically for the
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position of coming up completely empty if that happened, and of saying we hadn’t thought through the chance of failure and collected our own “contingency sample.” So the fail-safe data transmission became a part of the plan; as it later turned out, its best images were so good that they
Go, Flight!: The Unsung Heroes of Mission Control, 1965-1992
by Rick Houston and J. Milt Heflin · 27 Sep 2015 · 472pp · 141,591 words
’ in there or not.” McCandless said little in those first few minutes but finally broke onto the loop to remind Armstrong about scooping up a contingency sample of lunar rocks and dust. It would have been unthinkable had an emergency forced Armstrong back into the LM without at least a few examples
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attempted to bring Armstrong back around to the chore. Neil, we’re reading you loud and clear. We see you getting some pictures and the contingency sample. Just a few seconds later, after a prompt from Charlesworth, McCandless tried again. Neil, this is Houston. Did you copy about the
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contingency sample? Armstrong responded by telling McCandless that he would get to the sample as soon as he finished the panorama, and he did just that. That
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of the landing site. Houston, while you’re looking that up, you might recognize what I have in my hand as the handle for the contingency sample return. It just so happens to have a genuine six iron on the bottom of it. In my left hand, I have a little white
Of a Fire on the Moon
by Norman Mailer · 2 Jun 2014 · 477pp · 165,458 words
then have the chance to return to earth with at least one rock. This first scoop of moon stone and moon dust was called the contingency sample, and it was one of Armstrong’s first tasks, but he seemed to have forgotten it. The Capcom reminded him subtly, so did Aldrin. The
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Capcom came back again: “Neil, this is Houston. Did you copy about the contingency sample? Over?” “Rog,” said Armstrong, “I’m going to get to that just as soon as I finish this picture series.” Aldrin had probably not heard
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. “Okay,” he asked, “going to get the contingency sample now, Neil?” “Right!” Armstrong snapped. The irritability was so evident that the audience roared with laughter—don’t we laugh when we glimpse a fine
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moon, all that plastic, silver and gold debris, and behind them—first refuse of the first moon city—was already the handle of the rock contingency sample, the TV camera and its tripod, the staff for the solar wind experiment, the passive seismometer, the closeup camera, the Laser Ranging Retro-Reflector and
Moonshot: The Inside Story of Mankind's Greatest Adventure
by Dan Parry · 22 Jun 2009 · 370pp · 100,856 words
some of my first pictures here.' Mission Control: 'Roger. Neil, we're reading you loud and clear. We see you getting some pictures and the contingency sample.' After taking a series of panoramic pictures while standing at the bottom of the ladder, Armstrong left the shadow of the LM and walked ten
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a small selection of material. Armstrong: 'This is very interesting. It's a very soft surface, but here and there where I plug with the contingency sample collector, I run into a very hard surface. But it appears to be a very cohesive material of the same sort. I'll try to
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the lower equipment bay. Since they had been sealed in the vacuum of space Michael was unable to open them, but Neil showed him the contingency sample so that he could see the dark powder for himself. 'Sort of like wet sand,' was his first impression.19 As part of their preparations
"Live From Cape Canaveral": Covering the Space Race, From Sputnik to Today
by Jay Barbree · 18 Aug 2008 · 386pp · 92,778 words
. Ward, you’re about to find out.” “Houston,” Shepard paused for effect, “you might recognize what I have in my hand…the handle for the contingency sample. It just so happens to have a genuine six-iron on the bottom.” Those in Mission Control were now laughing. Shepard reached into a pouch
Year's Best SF 15
by David G. Hartwell; Kathryn Cramer · 15 Aug 2010 · 573pp · 163,302 words
and extreme stress, neither astronaut needed a sleeping pill to sack out in the cramped, uncomfortable Pathfinder. The next day—the public relations ceremonies and contingency sampling behind them—they were able to board the rover quickly and be on the road, just the way the Alpha loved to fire up a
Our Moon: How Earth's Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution, and Made Us Who We Are
by Rebecca Boyle · 16 Jan 2024 · 354pp · 109,574 words
nuisance. NASA scientists had warned the astronauts that Moon dust might be reactive in oxygen. Aldrin and Armstrong were told to be cautious about their contingency sample, a small scoop of Moon that Armstrong tucked into his pocket moments after stepping out of the Eagle. After coming back inside, Aldrin and Armstrong
Shoot for the Moon: The Space Race and the Extraordinary Voyage of Apollo 11
by James Donovan · 12 Mar 2019
to Armstrong, who began taking photos. Then Armstrong used a handled scooper with a bag on the end to collect some rocks and soil, a contingency sample in case the EVA had to be cut short. Twenty minutes after Armstrong’s first step, Aldrin descended the ladder and joined him. “Beautiful view
The Moon: A History for the Future
by Oliver Morton · 1 May 2019 · 319pp · 100,984 words