Cultivating Organics for Lunar Science

Chemist Patricia Kirk operates a discharge device to create the organics needed for the lunar biological sampling experiments at NASA’s Ames Research Center.

These photos from 1969 show researchers at NASA’s Ames Research Center examining samples of Moon rocks and soil and that astronauts brought back from the Apollo 11 mission. The researchers are looking for signs of life endemic to the Moon, as well as organic compounds that are the basic building blocks of life. Of course, no lunar life was found in these samples, and we now know that the Moon does not harbor life. Nevertheless, these tests became the first time that NASA looked for the possibility of life existing on another world using samples from that world.

Learn more about the Lunar Biological Lab at NASA Ames here.

Credits: NASA/Zabower