Charlie Duke Family Photo

[Ishkabibble]

Well, an update...

I've heard back from one of the three people I had as backup contacts, since none of my other sources have panned out, and I was sent a PDF copy of an obscure NASA report on fireproofing materials in the Apollo Spacecraft (damn thing was so long and technical that it took me two days to read it!) but I found this one interesting tidbit on page 322. A photograph of food stowage in the LM, with a caption that indicates that we're on the right track to obtaining the answer to our question.

I stress that I do not find this to be a definitive answer, nor do I find it even rises to the level of evidentiary status, but it is at least an indicator that the research is on the right track.

The figure is titled "fig. 14-12. Food Container"

I think that I might be on to something, in that the label referring to the primary wrap for each of the packages could be what we're looking for.

I am going to continue to try to get to the bottom of this.

[onebigmonkey]

Duke recounts the episode in 'The Wonder of it All'

It's here

at 45:21

He describes it just as 'a little piece of shrink-wrap plastic'.

[bknight]

This is a great video, presenting the human experience of those men on the moon instead of the technology/science that enabled them to get to the moon.

[onebigmonkey]

I enjoyed watching it, but I'm glad I found it on youtube first as I would have preferred more NASA footage on something I'd paid money for.

[Ishkabibble]

Just heard back from my friend (who retired from NASA last May) who finally got a reply from his contact at NASA. The second guy works in the Human Exploration and Operations directorate, and who asked my friend to "keep his name out of this" (I don't know why) about the exact type of film used to make the bag in which the photo was encased.

Hint, it is not "shrink wrap"

According to the contact at NASA, it was a polyethylene film that the Crew Systems Support division has used since the Gemini program.

The only thing the guy would tell my friend is that it is a "standard ASTM-D2103 polyethylene" film.

So, not having access to ASTM or their technical library, this is as far as I can get. I am going to try to see if I can get in touch with anyone at the library at HQ in DC to see if they can point me to the right technical document, although I've searched that database for several days now with no results. I don't know that this can be called a completely definitive answer, since it's second-hand hearsay without physical documentation, but at least I know what I am looking for now. It's easier to prove something when you know exactly what it is that you're looking for.

I must say though, I am surprised that everyone is so ready to accept a You Tube video as "evidence" 

[JayUtah]

ASTM is a paid service, so yeah.  You can say with confidence that it's polyethylene without having to delve into the deep minutia of ASTM testing regimes.

[ka9q]

I did say it looked like HDPE...

[Morgul]

Forgive me for asking the obvious, but has anyone ever attempted to contact Charlie Duke to ask him what kind of plastic bag the photo was in?

Charlie Duke occasionally comes here to help with fundraising for the Boy Scouts in my area.  I've met him a couple of times.  If he comes by again, I will try to remember to ask him.

[bknight]

Forgive me for asking the obvious, but has anyone ever attempted to contact Charlie Duke to ask him what kind of plastic bag the photo was in?

Charlie Duke occasionally comes here to help with fundraising for the Boy Scouts in my area.  I've met him a couple of times.  If he comes by again, I will try to remember to ask him.

Ishkabibble already emailed him so I doubt  he would remember anything different

[onebigmonkey]

Popped up on my facebook feed today:

http://www.thejournal.ie/moon-photo-2421201-Nov2015/

[bknight]

Popped up on my facebook feed today:

http://www.thejournal.ie/moon-photo-2421201-Nov2015/

At least it gives us something to discuss.  Too bad Jim Irwin is dead, we could maybe get another story

[Ishkabibble]

I did say it looked like HDPE...

Yes, you did. And I even thought to myself at the time "maybe this guy's on to something"

But now we have definitive confirmation that it was indeed polyethylene film from which the bag was made.

Good going!