O’BRIENHADALREADYEXPLAINED
how theApollo 12 DDEgotclean;
whathehadn’texplainedwashow,
inthedaysfollowingtheastronauts’
departure,itgotdustyagain.His
andHollick’shypothesiswentasfol-
lows:aftertheastronautssetoffon
theirjourneyhome,leavingtheDDE
behindtobroadcastitsreadings,the
sunwentdownforabouttwoEarth
weeks.
Whenitroseagain,itshowered
the‘collateraldust’they’dkicked
up– morethantwotonnesintotal- withU Vradiation.Thiscaused
thedustparticlestobecomeposi-
tivelycharged.Theybeganto“mo-
biliseandshuff learound,”O’Brien
says,likea “groundmistswirling”.
Repelledbyoneanotherandbythe
moon’ssurface,theylevitated.This
createdasmalldust storm high
enoughtoreachtheDDE.Thenext
timethesunrose,thesamething
happened,andthenext,andthe
next.Eachtime,thestormgota lit-
tlesmaller,untilfinallytherewasno
collateraldustlefttofeedit.
Thisisstillasomewhatcontro-
versialtheory.Schmitt,theastro-
naut-geologistwhof lewonApol-
l o 17 , is notentirely convinced,
becausemostoftherockshesawon
themoonwerefreeofdust.“Iffine
dustwerelevitatingandredeposit-
ingwithanylateralmotionatall,”
hewrotetome,“Iwouldnotexpect
rocksurfacestobeclean.”Inhis
own correspondence with Schmitt,
anadjunctprofessorattheUniversity
ofWesternAustralia.Hewasinvited
tospeakatthesecondannualLu-
narScienceForum,heldatNASA’s
AmesResearchCenterinCalifornia.
Theroomwassopackedathispres-
entationthatpeoplespilledoutinto
thecorridor.Therewascommunal
disbeliefamongtheyoungermoon
enthusiaststhatthey’dneverheard
ofO’BrienorhisDDEs.“Afterthat,
things startedtobubble,”hesays.
INEARLY2010,Holmeslocatedan
oldIBM 729 Mark5 tapedriveinthe
warehouseoftheAustralianCom-
puterMuseum.Itwasthesizeofa
two-doorrefrigeratorandinterrible
condition.Themuseumagreedto
lendittohim.AgroupofSpectrum-
Dataemployeesdonatedtheirtime
tofixitup.Thetapeswerecareful-
lyheatedtodrawoutanymoisture,
thenunravelledatextra-lowspeed.
Holmessayshewasveryemotional
duringthissalvageprocess,keenly
awareofitshistoricimportanceand
thetrustO’Brienhadplacedinhim.
Eventually,theteammanagedto
decodeandextractmostofthedata.
AnundergraduatenamedMonique
Hollick,nowa spacesystemsengi-
neerfortheAustralianDepartment
ofDefence,signeduptohelphim
analysetheresurrecteddata.This
tookthemseveralyears.By 2015
theywerereadytounveilaneven
stranger new theory about moon-
dust.
119
The Moondust Diaries