Apollo 11 Passive Seismic Experiment Package, full size model

Apollo 11 Passive Seismic Experiment Package, full size model Apollo 11 Passive Seismic Experiment Package, full size model

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

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Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Apollo 11 passive seismic experiment package full size model.

This is a full-size model of thePpassive Seismic Experiment Package (PSEP) left on the lunar surface by the crew on Apollo 11. It was the first ever seismometer to land on a different celestial body. This experiment was sent to the moon to measure its seismic activity. The PSEP experiment ended just over a month after its deployment when the instrument failed, probably due to overheating during the lunar daytime. However other seismometers used at landing sites for Apollo 12, 14, 15 and 16 transmitted data until September 1977. These seismometers provided valuable data on ‘Moonquakes’ and other seismic occurrences on the moon like meteorite impacts. So far, seismometers have only been sent to the Moon and Mars.

Details

Category:
Space Technology
Object Number:
1977-898
type:
seismometers