Untouched moon samples from the Apollo missions will be studied for the first time

Discussion in 'Science' started by Durandal, Mar 12, 2019.

  1. Durandal

    Durandal Well-Known Member Donor

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    Well, that's pretty neato. I didn't know there were big ol' samples being kept in sealed storage for all these years. Glad these were handled so responsibly! I don't imagine anything too earth-shattering will be revealed, but it's all pretty cool nonetheless. I mean, we've lost Apollo astronauts to old age already before these samples will be unsealed and tested in these experiments, it's been so long!

    Untouched moon samples from the Apollo missions will be studied for the first time
    ...

    "Returned samples are an investment in the future. These samples were deliberately saved so we can take advantage of today's more advanced and sophisticated technology to answer questions we didn't know we needed to ask," Lori Glaze, acting director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, said in a statement.

    ...

    The teams will study a variety of aspects about the samples, including completing an experiment begun 50 years ago by studying how water is stored in the radiated environment of the moon's surface. Another team will study the geologic history of the site investigated during Apollo 11, a cold trap where water may have been able to freeze. That marks the first time such a sample will be studied in a lab.

    Other aspects include the process of "space weathering" of objects on the moon's surface, how small organic molecules are preserved on the moon, how noble gases in the sample can determine age, hydrogen-bearing minerals in the soil, the impact of meteorites on the moon's geology, how airless objects are affected by the space environment and the tiny glass beads that formed during an ancient eruption on the moon.​

    ... https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/11/world/nasa-apollo-untouched-moon-samples/index.html
     

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