Like a time capsule that was sealed for posterity, one of the last unopened Apollo-era lunar samples collected during Apollo 17 has been opened under the careful direction of lunar sample processors and curators in the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Division at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. This precious and well-preserved sample will serve as a narrow window into the permanent geological record of Earth’s closest celestial neighbor – the Moon.
Watch NASA TV at 3 p.m. EDT for a new episode of NASA Science Live: We Just Opened a 50-Year-Old Moon Sample.
This image of Apollo 17 lunar core sample 73001 shows it being taken out of its drive tube at the Johnson Space Center in Houston for the first time since it was collected by Apollo astronauts in December 1972.
Image Credit: NASA/Robert Markowitz