Our World: The Stories Moon Rocks Tell
Our World: The Stories Moon Rocks Tell
More than 50 years ago the Apollo missions brought Moon rocks, core samples, pebbles, sand, and dust back to Earth. While scientists have been studying these lunar samples for years, researchers at the Astromaterials Acquisition & Curation Office are using new instruments and modern technology to study and analyze six preserved core samples. Astromaterials 3D, an interactive virtual library, also gives everyone the chance to virtually manipulate and look inside of 3D rocks samples.
What can we learn from analyzing and studying moon rocks with cutting edge technology? Moon rocks can unravel the stories and mysteries about the Moon, Earth, and our solar system.
Share this episode with your learners and encourage them to write about what they learn by answering these questions:
Discussion and Writing Prompts:
What can we learn from studying Moon rocks?
- We can learn the age of the rocks which can tell us when the Moon formed and when Earth formed. We can learn about the ages of the surfaces of the bodies in our solar system.
- Researchers at the Curation Office protect and preserve the Moon rocks returned on the Apollo missions. They also share the samples with other researchers for continued analysis.
- Anorthosite is a rare rock that forms under special conditions. Finding this rock on the Moon was evidence that there had been an ocean of magma on the Moon. This rock led to current theories of the impact origin of the Moon and magma ocean theory.
- We used to use physical means to study the rocks, such as smashing them with a hammer. Now x-ray tomography, like a CT-scan, is used to scan the rocks to identify exactly where the features are located and allow the team to be more intentional with their study.
- Astromaterials 3D is an interactive virtual library of NASA's astromaterials collections. Everyone can explore these samples on their own using this tool.
Published on: October 25, 2023
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