http://www.y12.doe.gov/library/pdf/about/history/info_materials/NASAbookletRev1.pdf

The Apollo Lunar Sample Return Container was made at Oak Ridge along with the Lunar Sample Bags and work on the TFE/FEP fluoropolymer (“Teflon”) they were made from.

Curiously there is no mention of RTGs or Oak Ridge design work on the Lunar Receving Laboratory vacuum system or science done lunar rocks so it’s not the whole story.

Is that limitation secrecy or just limiting the narrative for PR reasons? How can one tell?

One left field idea for the cryptic “security billboard” at Oak Ridge

http://www.flickr.com/photos/doe-oakridge/6925568294/in/photostream

comes from noticing that there is a dotted path from the earth to the moon on the billboard.

Hmmm, something travelling from the earth to the moon in 1970. I wonder what that could be? Any why would it involve Oak Ridge?

The thing that comes to mind is the Pu-238 in the radioisotope thermoelectric generator. The Apollo 12 through 17 missions carried SNAP-27 radioisotope thermoelectric generator to power the ALSEP experiments left behind on the moon. They couldn’t use solar power because the 14 day nights on the lunar surface would mean you’d need batteries to cover the time the sun was hidden (though not actually in eclipse).

Oak Ridge developed a techniques for making the Pu-238 pellets (they’re non-trvial … the pellet glows red hot) and encapsulating them in an iridium case so they can survey a rocket launch that goes bad or a rentry from space.

I would think at the height of Apollo people from Oak Ridge might be tempted to talk about “their contribution” to the mission. So in a way this billboard might be making an “in joke” (“you and I know what this means but the others don’t so let’s keep them in the dark”).

I’m not sure of the classification of RTGs, Pu-238 production and Oak Ridge but the DoE says “Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed and fabricated the material used to encapsulate the plutonium”. They also worked on nuclear reactors for space use too. I could imagine they they would be very useful for other secret missions e.g. powering a new generation of optical or radar reconnaissance satellites especially if they required high power or wanted to reduce footprint of the solar panels. Hence the secrecy?

The Nimbus 3 weather satellite (launch attempt in 1968 followed by successful launch in 1969) carried a RTG too (“to assess the operational capability of radioisotope power for space applications”). The RTG was recovevered from the first launch and reused in the second launch.

I don’t know why there is a clock face around the sun (though that looks a bit like RTG in cross section) and what (with the obviously incorrect orientation) “north arrow” means. Project names, maybe? Umbra? Eclipse? North something?

Still it’s a fascinating interesting of a cryptic security.

This is sort of related to cryptic project patches as documented by Trevor Paglen in his 2008 book I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to be Destroyed by Me: Emblems from the Pentagon’s Black World. One interesting idea here is that sometimes the unit patches can leak information so they become even more cryptic (my favorite: all black with red lettering at the bottom “Si Ego Certiorem Faciam … Mihi Tu Delendus Eris”)

Thank you for your time. Hopefully, in my time, there will be lots of info and questions answered.

Sincerely,

Susie

I just happed along your website today and was excited to see some photos I have never seen before. Particularly the ones of my dad. Dad celebrated his 90th birthday last January.
DOE and The American Museum of Science and Energy gave him a big birthday bash.
There were so many people their you had to wait in line to get your photo taken with him.
Just this month Y-12 did a modern recreation of dads famous “Shift Change” photograph witch included dad. Every one had a great time.

I want to thank you for your inclusion of my dads work to your web site and we will look forward to new material.

Sincerely,
John Westcott