Apollo Astronauts May Have Found the Oldest-Known Earth Rock on the Moon

[Judi Lynn]

By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | January 25, 2019 08:15am ET


One of Earth's oldest rocks may have been dug up on the moon.

A chunk of material brought back from the lunar surface by Apollo astronauts in 1971 harbors a tiny piece of Earth, a new study suggests. The Earth fragment was likely blasted off our planet by a powerful impact about 4 billion years ago, according to the new research.

"It is an extraordinary find that helps paint a better picture of early Earth and the bombardment that modified our planet during the dawn of life," study co-author David Kring, a Universities Space Research Association (USRA) scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, said in a statement. (Biologists generally believe that life got a foothold on Earth between 4.1 billion and 3.8 billion years ago.) [How the Moon Formed: 5 Wild Theories]

The research team — led by Jeremy Bellucci, of the Swedish Museum of Natural History, and Alexander Nemchin, of the Swedish Museum and Curtin University in Australia — analyzed lunar samples collected by members of the Apollo 14 mission, which explored the lunar surface for a few days in early February 1971.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/64590-earth-oldest-rock-moon-apollo-14.html

[akraven]

1. Super K&R! I was raised on Merritt Island even before KSC was built.

Dad was a "rocket scientist" at Cape Canaveral. NASA rocks, hands down. This is a great article and should be widely disseminated.

Oh, and I was tuned in (by radio) to the first moon landing while on a catamaran on the Banana River.

Thanks, Judi Lynn!

[Judi Lynn]

2. The moon landing was a special day for probably everyone, but you have a unique "take"

with your memories for the event.

Not so many people in the world were connected to the experience as closely as you were! Very small group.

Really, really cool!

Must have been one amazing event.

People everywhere were excited about it, talking about it with others.

Seems like something from another world right now, doesn't it?

Thank you!