Microbiologist Ed Merek, pictured on the far left, reaches for testing equipment to examine the Apollo 11 samples in the NASA Ames Lunar Biological Laboratory in the fall of 1969. The samples and testing equipment are contained within glove boxes to maintain a sterile environment.
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