Papers relating to the Apollo 16 special surface sampler, collected by Colin Pillinger Surface samples of the lunar regolith were collected at station 9 during the Apollo 16 mission using two cloths, the Beta cloth described as a close weave nylon material (30mg collected) and a velvet cloth described as having a substantial pile (130mg collected). When returned the samplers were stored in nitrogen and sealed in multiple teflon bags. The containers had been spring-loaded to prevent contamination of the lunar surface, and this created difficulty once the samples had been returned. The Organic Geochemistry Unit at Bristol University was selected to develop techniques to retrieve the samples after a proposal and a number of simulations. The retrieval was carried out by Colin Pillinger in December 1974. Contains the following files: Correspondence and papers preceeding the retrieval of the Apollo 16 lunar special samples, collected by Colin Pillinger Correspondence and papers relating to the retrieval of the Apollo 16 lunar special samples, collected by Colin Pillinger Papers created by NASA relating to the collection of Apollo 16 lunar special samples, collected by Colin Pillinger Copies of Apollo 16 lunar special samples media coverage, collected by Colin Pillinger Photographic slides relating to the Apollo 16 lunar special samples, collected by Colin Pillinger Photographs of Apollo 16 lunar special samples, collected by Colin Pillinger Scanning electron microscope photographic material of Apollo 16 lunar special samples, collected by Colin Pillinger September 1966 - March 1975