Lunar Module Insulation
On the photos returned from the moon, I’ve always loved the ones with the relatively colorless lunar soil contrasting with the luminous gold covering of the Lunar Module’s descent stage, of the lunar module.
The gold covering is the outer surface of the LM’s insulation blanket, a very complex assortment of 2 dozen layers of mylar, “kapton,” glass and aluminum. Since the LM would have to suffer under temperatures going from -250F to 250F, the insulation helped moderate that. It is still used today as almost any satellite will show.
This is the “MESA” (Modularized Equipment Stowage Assembly) which is deployed by the first astronaut to exit the LM. It carried the TV camera along with tools needed for the early part of the moonwalk.
