NASA scientists open untouched Moon rock and soil sample ahead of Artemis missions

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An undated handout photo made available by NASA shows Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan preparing to collect samples 73001 and 73002 from the Moon (issued 14 November 2019).

NASA scientists opened an untouched rock and soil sample from the Moon returned to Earth on Apollo 17, marking the first time in more than 40 years a pristine sample of rock and regolith from the Apollo era has been opened.

It sets the stage for scientists to practice techniques to study future samples collected on Artemis missions.

NASA scientists open untouched Moon rock and soil sample ahead of Artemis missions — An undated handout photo made available by NASA shows the scan of sample 73002 (below) taken using radiograph technology in 1974 by NASA, and the X-Ray Computed Microtomography scan (above) taken in 2019 at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, USA (issued 14 November 2019). This is one example of the technological developments that are enabling a new generation to conduct new science on Apollo samples. EPA-EFE/NASA HANDOUT HANDOUT

The sample, opened 05 November 2019, in the Lunar Curation Laboratory at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, was collected on the Moon by Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt, who drove a four-centimeter-wide tube into the surface of the Moon to collect it and another sample scheduled to be opened in January.

The sample was opened as part of NASA’s Apollo Next-Generation Sample Analysis (ANGSA) initiative, which is leveraging advanced technologies to study Apollo samples using new tools that were not available when the samples were originally returned to Earth.

Via EPA-EFE/NASA HANDOUT