Saved 50 Years, NASA Begins Studying Moon Rocks from Apollo Missions

KOMPAS.com – After being stored for 50 years, fragments Moon carried by the Apollo 15 and 17 missions in 1971 and 1972 was finally started to be studied.

Nine research teams were selected to analyze rocks and soil moon that has not been touched.

Quoted from Science Alert, Saturday (7/5/2022) some vacuum-sealed samples have never been opened on Earth before. While others have been carefully stored in the refrigerator since their arrival fifty years ago.

Even to analyze this valuable object, researchers are not kidding. Special and thorough preparations were made so that everything could run smoothly.

Read also: Preparation for the Artemis Mission, NASA Makes Anti-stray Backpack on the Moon

The precious cargo was transported from Texas to the laboratory NASA. Then a special facility was built in Maryland in Goddard Space Flight Center to accommodate the Moon sample. It took four years to prepare.

Only now can researchers finally begin to analyze the long-held treasures of the Apollo missions, as well as in preparation for Artemis mission.

“When you think about how these samples came from other worlds and how far they have traveled and the history of the Solar System stored in them, it always surprises me,” said Natalie Curran, planetary scientist at Goddard.

This analyzed piece of the Moon once it reaches Earth must be frozen and stored under the right conditions.

Then to deal with this valuable sample, the researcher must include: walk-in freezer stored at minus 20 degrees Celsius.

Then, researchers had to put their hands in a glove box that was cleaned with nitrogen first. Only when their hands were covered with thick rubber gloves were the researchers able to touch the Moon rock.

“Everything we do involves a lot of logistics and a lot of infrastructure, freezing it makes it even more difficult. But these are important lessons that the Artemis mission can draw on,” said astromaterials researcher Ryan Zeigler.

Using quality gas, the team then tried to measure how long chunks of the Moon’s surface had been exposed to cosmic light. This knowledge can help reveal how conditions on the Moon have changed over time.

“Cosmic rays can damage any organic material that may be present in a sample, so understanding their duration helps determine the effects of exposure to organic matter,” explains Curran.

Read also: Scientists reveal why the moon has 9,000 craters on its surface

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