File:Y12 moon box for apollo 11.jpg

English: HISTORY MADE POSSIBLE: Y-12 experts inspect this moon box

and its components.

To The Moon: Y-12 Technology Part of Apollo 11 Anniversary Forty years ago, American astronauts shot for the moon — and brought a little of it back with help from scientists and engineers at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. In preparation for the historic Apollo 11 launch in July 1969, Y-12 experts diligently worked to develop the "moon boxes" the astronauts would use to bring nearly 50 pounds of moon rocks and soil back to Earth. The moon boxes were also used on subsequent Apollo missions, bringing a total of more than 840 pounds of lunar material back for research. NASA selected Y-12 for its metal-working expertise, and special facilities were created at the site to enable the production of the moon boxes. Each box was machined from a single piece of aluminum, seamless except for the lid opening, which had a metalized gasket that firmly sealed when closed. Four metal straps secured the lid to the box during transit. There were two moon boxes on each Apollo flight, and the boxes can be viewed at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington, the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge, the Y-12 History Center and at NASA displays across the country. Y-12's involvement in the Apollo 11 mission is yet another example of history made possible by the science and technology experts who labor behind the scenes every day across NNSA’s enterprise. To watch an informational video about the moon boxes, visit the

NNSA YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/NNSANews.