NASA finally decides to open Moon sample sealed since 1972

Categories: SCIENCE NEWS

                          Among the 2,196 Moon rock samples collected over several Apollo missions (1968-72), NASA has decided to open one of the last pieces that was brought to Earth nearly 50 years ago.Dubbed 73001, the rock sample was collected by US astronauts in December 1972 during the Apollo 17 mission—the last of the program.Astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison “Jack” Schmitt collected the sample by ploughing a 14-inch tube into the lunar surface.

                         Of the only two samples to have been vacuum sealed on the Moon, this is the first to be opened.It is being said that these samples contain gases or volatile substances (water, carbon dioxide, etc.)The rock sample was vacuum-sealed in a tube for later in order to take advantage of future scientific technologies. This is why it took them nearly 50 years to reach the last few pieces.

                         NASA knew "science and technology would evolve and allow scientists to study the material in new ways to address new questions in the future," Lori Glaze, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters, said in a statement.In early February, the outer protective tube was first removed.It was not itself revealed to contain any lunar gas, indicating that the sample it contained remained sealed.

                         The extraction site of this sample is particularly interesting because it is the site of a landslide."Now we don't have rain on the Moon," said Juliane Gross, deputy Apollo curator. "And so we don't quite understand how landslides happen on the Moon."Gross said researchers hope to study the sample to understand what causes landslides.