Image credits: NASABecause lunar meteorites are samples from randomly distributed locations on the surface of the Moon and because most of the lunar surface is feldspathic, most of the lunar meteorites are feldspathic breccias. In an audit released Thursday (Dec. 8), NASA's Office of Inspector General states that the agency "lacks sufficient controls over its loans of The report stresses the importance of maintaining stricter guidelines for the "NASA has been experiencing loss of astromaterials since lunar samples were first returned by Apollo missions," inspector general Paul K. Martin detailed in the report.
FeO/MnO alone can distinguish lunar meteorites from other achondrites but not always from terrestrial rocks.The element chromium is in greater concentration in lunar rocks than most Earth rocks (bottom plot These two figures are similar to the figures above, but here the five unfilled green triangles represent the five samples of alleged lunar rock discussed in the first paragraph (none are lunar).
"Where should future astronauts look on the Moon for these ejected terrestrial materials? "Why were there researchers who received samples and didn't use them? Orthoclase has several commercial uses.
"Get breaking space news and the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!Thank you for signing up to Space. As the moon lacks tectonic forces or active volcanism I would assume the proportion of metamorphic rock to be low.
Orthoclase is an important constituent of igneous rocks brought back from the moon by astronauts. Apollo 16 astronauts collected this sample in 1972 while on the fifth moon mission — the first mission to sample the lunar highlands John Young, astronaut and Navy veteran, salutes the U.S. flag at the Descartes landing site during the first Apollo 16 extravehicular activity (EVA-1). Young, commander of the Apollo 16 lunar landing mission, jumps up from the lunar surface as astronaut and Air Force veteran, Charles M. Duke Jr., lunar module pilot, took this picture. [Martin's office audited 59 researchers who had received samples from NASA, and found that 11 of them, or 19 percent, could not locate all of the borrowed materials.The report also found that the Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston had records of hundreds of samples that no longer exist, and loans to 12 researchers who had died, retired or relocated, sometimes without the office's knowledge and without returning the samples.In response to the inspector general report, the agency is looking into modifying their loan agreements and procedures. It is a raw material used in the production of glass, ceramic tile, porcelain, dinnerware, bathroom fixtures, and other ceramics.
Moon rocks fall into two main categories: those found in the lunar highlands (terrae), and those in the maria.The terrae consist dominantly of mafic plutonic rocks. The most common type of volcanic rock is Apollo 11 basalt sample 10044 (left) and Apollo 15 basalt sample 15016. Other differences could be the presence of hydrocarbons or carbonates.Perhaps a series of lunar missions would find such rocks: "We could develop automated robotic techniques that scan thousands or millions of small rocks, searching for Earth materials in lunar soils," speculates McKay. Some have impact craters on the surface and many display evidence for a suite of unanticipated and complicated effects associated with large and small meteorite impacts. If they are adamant, I suggest that they get a chemical analysis of the rock. Space probes and scientific analysis indicate that there's no liquid water on the moon.
The chemical composition of the Moon, derived from studies of lunar rocks, is compatible with this theory of the origin of the Moon.