ROCK FOLLIES

摘要

On 5 November, NASA scientists opened an untouched rock and soil sample container from the lunar surface which had been brought to Earth by Apollo 17. This is the first time in more than 40 years that 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 upcoming Artemis missions, which anticipate the next human landing in 2024 and a sustainable presence from 2028..The sample, preserved 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 4 cm wide tube into the surface of the Moon to collect it and another sample, which is scheduled to be opened in January 2020. The sample was opened as part of NASA's Apollo Next-Generation Sample Analysis (ANGSA) initiative, which is leveraging advanced technologies to study Apollo material using new tools that were not available when the samples were originally returned to Earth.