Lunar Sample Laboratory Facilty
I have had the rare privilege of visiting several times the labs where lunar samples collected by the Apollo missions are stored. For 5 times NASA has lent me a lunar sample to make divulgation in Italy. It is always exciting when the big security door slowly opens and reveals the hidden treasure. Thanks to the work of thousands of women and men, years of training, daring and powerful enterprises. Those rooms contain all this. Between 1969 and 1972, six Apollo missions brought back to Earth 382 kilograms of lunar rocks, soil samples, and dust (regolith) from the lunar surface. The six flights produced 2,200 separate samples from six different exploration sites on the Moon. In addition, three automated Soviet spacecraft brought back samples totaling 300 grams from three other lunar sites. The lunar sample building located at the Johnson Space Center is the primary repository for Apollo samples. The lunar samples laboratory is where pristine lunar samples are prepared for...
