Apollo 15 LSRP: Lunar Soil Penetrometer Data from August 1971

NASA's Apollo 15 Soil Mechanics dataset contains raw and reduced readings from six runs of the Lunar Self-Recording Penetrometer (LSRP) on the Moon's surface on 01 August 1971. Supporting documentation includes digitized scans of the original microfilm data, video transcripts of the lunar operation, and photographs and maps of the experiment area at Station 8.

Use Cases

• Modeling lunar soil bearing strength based on penetrometer readings.
• Analyzing the operation and performance of the LSRP instrument based on video transcripts.
• Correlating soil mechanics data with the geological context of Apollo 15 Station 8 based on provided maps and photography.

Strengths

• Original data from a documented Apollo 15 lunar surface experiment on a specific date (01 August 1971).
• Includes multimodal supporting documentation such as digitized scans, videos, transcripts, diagrams, and photographs.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data gathered by the Lunar Self-Recording Penetrometer (LSRP) during the Apollo 15 mission.

Time Range

01 August 1971

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:48:11.635465; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Surface of the Moon, Apollo 15 Station 8