Apollo J-Series Missions Scientific Instrument Module (SIM) Bay& SIM Bay Data Retrieval EVA

AS15 88 11971HR — Apollo 15 CSM “Endeavor” orbits above the moon with SIM Bay visible. Detail from NASA photo AS15-88-11971

Apollo J-Series Missions Scientific Instrument Module (SIM) Bay
Diagrams & photos of Apollo SIM Bays
Apollo 15 & 16 were the same

sim fig1 — Apollo 15 & 16 SIM Bay diagram

a15sim2 — Pre-flight photo of Apollo 15 SIM Bay

as15 881 — Apollo 15 in-flight photo of SIM Bay

a17sim — Apollo 17 in-flight photo of SIM Bay

Two instruments that were common to all 3 SIM Bays

SIM Bay Subsatellite

Diagram and photo of subsatellite,
carried on Apollos 15 &16 and released
into lunar orbit

Apollo 17 SIM Bay – Differences Explained

Much like the entire mission, Apollo 17’s SIM Bay was a little different from it’s J-Series predecessors. The Subsatellite canister was replaced with the Lunar Sounder Experiment box, and the entire bottom shelf of experiments was changed. The differences are listed in this table:

Apollo 15 & 16 experiment:	Replaced on Apollo 17 with:
Particles & Fields Subsatellite	Lunar Sounder Experiment (Also referred to as the Coherent Synthetic Aperture Radar or CSAR)
Gamma Ray Spectrometer	UV Spectrometer
Mass Spectrometer	Lunar Sounder Experiment Optical Recorder
Alpha & X-Ray Spectrometer	IR Scanning Radiometer

Diagrams of Apollo 17 SIM Bay Instruments

a17sim5b — Bottom shelves of Apollo 17 SIM Bay, showing the different instruments it carried

simcam5b — UV Spectrometer (see photo below)

simcam4b — IR Scanning Radiometer (see photo below)

simcam1b — Front panel of the Lunar Sounder Optical Recorder

17b — Antenna configuration of the Lunar Sounder Experiment

Pre-flight photos of 2 of the Apollo 17 SIM Bay instruments

10075914 — IR Scanning Radiometer (lying on it’s back) Front of instrument is facing up

Above: Lunar orbital photos of Apollo 17 CSM “America”, showing the two dipole antennae boxes for the Lunar Sounder Experiment

Above: Apollo 17 CSM “America”, with the Yagi antenna for the Lunar Sounder Experiment clearly visible.

Apollo J-Series Missions SIM
Bay Data Retrieval EVA

a15sim3 — Beautiful painting of SIM Bay EVA

a15sim4a — Nat Geo painting showing Al Worden’s view of Jim Irwin in the CM hatch

1007593a — Apollo 17 backup CMP Stu Roosa rehearsing for EVA on KC-135 “Vomit Comet”

10075930b — Rehearsing for SIM Bay EVA in WETF

j series cmp b — J-Series CMP EMU Connectors layout

ops1 — Great photo of specialized OPS used by CMP

3 awesome views of the real SIM Bay EVA

Luna Spacey

Luna Spacey, a distinguished space researcher, earned her Ph.D. in Astrophysics from MIT, specializing in exotic matter near black holes. Joining NASA post-graduation, she significantly contributed to the discovery of gravitational waves, enriching cosmic understanding. With a 15-year stellar career, Luna has numerous published papers and is currently spearheading a dark matter research project. Beyond her profession, she’s an avid stargazer, dedicated to community science education through local school workshops. Luna also cherishes hiking and astrophotography, hobbies that harmoniously blend her admiration for nature and the cosmos, making her a revered figure in both the scientific and local communities.

Apollo J-Series Missions Scientific Instrument Module (SIM) Bay& SIM Bay Data Retrieval EVA

Luna Spacey

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