Looking for this font used by NASA to catalogue their lunar samples

[Member typ…]

Hi I'm always on the lookout for cool sans-serif typefaces from the early 1900.  I recently stumbled upon this (stamped?) typeface used by NASA to catalogue their lunar samples. I really like the curvature of the "7", the closed "4" and the sharp angled "3". Similar typefaces where used by the military for aircraft consoles but they don't exactly match. My guess is that this is a generic font used by some stamp manufacturer or some kind of stencil font. Most of the images contain numbers but there seems to be a (capital?) set of  letters as well.

Does anyone recognize this font?

I'm not looking for a digital version however I'd purchase a copy if there was one. It's the backstory that interests me. Thanks for your help! –typenerd 

[Ralf Herrmann]

That falls into the category of technical lettering. In certain professions (like architecture, engineering) people simply learned to write this way or they used templates like these https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_lettering#/media/File:Lettersjabloon_rOtring.jpg

Some free fonts: http://www.fontscape.com/explore?5J19

[Member Ric…]

Another take on the style: Leroy. Other options are listed on Routed Gothic's page.

[Member typ…]

Thanks for your input, both of you. I know about technical lettering and always liked digital interpretations (Gotham rounded, Gravur, Din rounded…). The typeface used by NASA seems particularly nice to me. There is something distinctive American about it. Less technical than German 'Normschrift'... Any details on this particular typeface are much appreciated.