ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package

Hey kiddo, have you ever heard about Apollo and the moon? Yeah, that's right. It was a big mission that happened a long time ago. When people went to the moon, they carried with them a lot of cool things in a package called Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP).

Now, why was it so cool? The package had a lot of instruments and tools that help scientists learn more about the moon. Here is what they did:

Firstly, they set up a solar wind composition experiment, which means they wanted to understand what the solar wind is made of, which is a flow of hot gas from the sun. They wanted to study its properties and how it affects the moon's surface.

Next, they had a seismic experiment where they placed seismometers on the moon. It's like putting your ears on the ground to listen to what's happening inside the earth. In this case, the seismometers helped the scientists to hear the moon's "heartbeat," which is the sound waves that are produced by the moon's surface moving.

Thirdly, they had a heat flow experiment, which helped them to understand the heat that was coming from the moon's interior. They drilled a hole in the moon's surface and inserted a temperature sensor that measured the heat coming out of it. That way they could have an idea about the heat distribution inside the moon.

Lastly, they set up a lunar ranging experiment that allowed them to measure the distance between the earth and the moon with extreme precision. They did this by bouncing lasers off the moon's surface and measuring the time it takes for the light to return. That way, they could understand how far the moon is from us and even how it moves.

All these experiments were carried out simultaneously, which means, while one experiment was happening, the others were too, and they were all sending data back to earth for scientists to study.

So, Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package was a team of machines that helped people understand more about the moon, how it is formed and how it works.