Page 64 - The Appollo Story
P. 64

Apollo  12  (AS-
                                                                                                                                                  507)  A  Sea  Of
                                                                                                                                                  Storms
                                                                                                                                                  This  presentation
                                                                                                                                                  bears  part  of the
                                                                                                                                                  flown  Kapton  foil
                                                                                                                                                  of Apollo 12.
                                                                                                                                                  The  space  cap-
                                                                                                                                                  sules    of    the
                                                                                                                                                  Apollo    program
                                                                                                                                                  were covered with
                                                                                                                                                  a  very  thin  layer
                                                                                                                                                  of     pressure-
                                                                                                                                                  sensitive  Kapton
                                                                                                                                                  polyamide     tape.
                                                                                                                                                  This     tape    is
                                                                                                                                                  coated  with  alu-
                                                                                                                                                  minium  and  oxi-
                                                                                                                                                  dized silicon mon-
                                                                                                                                                  oxide to  help pro-
                                                                                                                                                  tect the spacecraft
                                                                                                                                                  from  the  extreme
                                                                                                                                                  temperatures    of
                                                                                                                                                  outer space. Much
                                                                                                                                                  of it,  but  not  all,
                                                                                                                                                  burns away during
                                                                                                                                                  the  heat  of  re-
                                                                                                                                                  entry. Members of
                                                                                                                                                  the recovery team
                                                                                                                                                  and  other mission
                                                                                                                                                  members      were
                                                                                                                                                  known  to  collect
                                                                                                                                                  as  souvenirs  bits
                                                                                                                                                  of this  outer  skin
                                                                                                                                                   .           .
                                                                                                                                                                  re-
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