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NASA Requests Return of Its Dead Roaches

Agency stops auction sale of experiment items, including moon dust collected in 1969

(Newser) - Unwilling to let another historic item pass out of its hands , NASA has intervened in the auction of some dead cockroaches. As the AP reports, Boston-based RR Auction was offering 40 milligrams of moon dust collected during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission that had been fed to and then extracted...

NASA Opens Moon Samples Frozen for 50 Years

Apollo 17 samples could have valuable lessons for Artemis missions

(Newser) - As NASA prepares for the Artemis moon missions, its scientists have cracked open lunar samples frozen since the Apollo 17 mission almost 50 years ago. The samples collected during the agency's last crewed moon mission were recently brought to the Goddard Space Flight Facility in Maryland from the Johnson...

Gas May Hide in 50-Year-Old Moon Sample

Sample 73001, vacuum-sealed in 1972, is now being opened

(Newser) - The last time astronauts set foot on the moon, in 1972, they hammered two 1.5-by-14-inch tubes into the lunar surface, which were then retrieved along with the soil inside. Sample 73002 was brought back to Earth in an unsealed container, which was opened in 2019. But sample 73001 was...

China Brings Back 'Treasure Trove' of Moon Rocks

They're the first fresh lunar samples in 44 years

(Newser) - A Chinese lunar capsule returned to Earth on Thursday with the first fresh rock samples from the moon in more than 40 years, offering the possibility of new insights into the history of the solar system and marking a new landmark for China's rapidly advancing space program, the AP...

China's Ambitious Moon Mission Off to Good Start

Probe lands, aims to bring back moon rocks

(Newser) - A Chinese robot probe launched to return lunar rocks to Earth landed on the moon Tuesday, the government announced. Assuming all goes well, the mission will be the first in 40 years to retrieve moon rocks. The Chang'e 5 probe "successfully landed on the moon in the preselected...

Own a Chunk of the Moon—for a Price

Big rock up for sale at Christie's for $2.5M

(Newser) - Rich space enthusiasts who can't get a seat on a rocket now can settle for having space come to them. Christie's has a chunk of the moon for sale, and it's valued at $2.5 million, reports Reuters . The lunar meteorite (designated formally as NWA 12691) weighs...

NASA to Open Moon Rock Samples Sealed 50 Years

Geologists will use new technology on Apollo samples

(Newser) - Inside a locked vault at Johnson Space Center is treasure few have seen and fewer have touched. The restricted lab is home to hundreds of pounds of moon rocks collected by Apollo astronauts close to a half-century ago. And for the first time in decades, NASA is about to open...

The Lunar Rocks Vanished. He Has Found All but 2

Rocks scooped up by Neil Armstrong were given to all 50 states

(Newser) - A strange thing happened after Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 crew returned from the moon with lunar rocks: Many of the mementos given to every US state vanished. Now, after years of sleuthing, a former NASA investigator is closing in on his goal of locating the whereabouts of all...

Woman Preemptively Sues NASA to Keep Her Treasure

Owner of presumed lunar material says space agency has history of seizing such items

(Newser) - Call it one small step for lunar dust owners. A Tennessee woman is suing NASA preemptively to keep a vial of what she believes is moon dust that was given to the family by Neil Armstrong. Filed in federal court, the suit is an attempt to prevent NASA—which says...

Widow Can Sue Over NASA's Brutal Sting Operation on Her

Joann Davis, 75, urinated in her pants as agents detained her over moon rock

(Newser) - A 75-year-old widow in tough financial straits reached out to NASA about selling a speck of moon rock her late husband had given her. Joann Davis then became the target of a sting operation at a Denny's that a federal appeals court suggested Thursday was outrageous overkill. The lead...

A Rover That Can't Move Made Big Find on Moon

Rock has moderate titanium levels compared with earlier samples

(Newser) - After almost being declared dead , China's Jade Rabbit lunar rover has uncovered something astronauts and earlier rovers missed: a new type of moon rock. While exploring an impact crater in the Mare Imbrium—what Motherboard calls the "right eye" of the "Man in the Moon"—the...

Buzz Aldrin's Moon Walk Cost Him $33

The former astronaut has been tweeting old documents

(Newser) - After the Apollo 11 crew got done taking their steps and leaps on the moon, they had a few hoops to jump through back on Earth—specifically, customs and a 21-day quarantine to be sure they weren't carrying any unknown pathogens. This and more is coming to light now...

Site Auctioning Biggest Moon Rock Ever Sold

Meteorite is expected to fetch $340K

(Newser) - Heritage Auctions is currently taking bids on the biggest moon rock ever to come up for auction—a glittering 4-pound slab of meteorite from the highland breccias on the far side of the moon, Space.com reports. The rock, which is called Dar al Gani 1058, is expected to fetch...

Lost Moon Rock Found in Clinton Files

Apollo 17 rock languished in gubernatorial files

(Newser) - In the 1970s, NASA presented a moon rock to all 50 states. Some, including Alaska and New Jersey, have lost theirs. In Arkansas, the rock had been thought lost for more than 30 years until it turned up in the files of former governor Bill Clinton. The rock—presented to...

Moon Younger Than We Thought
 Moon Younger 
 Than We Thought 
STUDY SAYS
Aug 18, 2011 2:40 AM CDT

Moon Younger Than We Thought

Rock analysis shaves 200M years off moon's age

(Newser) - The moon may be a lot younger than previously believed, according to scientists using the latest technology to analyze rocks brought back by the Apollo 16 mission nearly 40 years ago. The researchers say the rocks—a kind believed to be the oldest that can be found on the moon—...

NASA Sting Yields Alleged Moon Rock

Woman tried to sell it for $1.7M; tests on it to follow

(Newser) - NASA does sting operations, too? Investigators from the space agency and local police confiscated a purported moon rock from a woman trying to sell it for a cool $1.7 million, reports the Los Angeles Times . NASA has not finished tests to determine whether it's legit. After a months-long...

Shuttle Crew Return Moon Rock to Space

Apollo 11 rock left behind as Endeavour finishes mission to ISS

(Newser) - The Endeavour shuttle departed the ISS last night, leaving behind the station's new connecting hub and observation deck as well as one well-traveled lump of rock. A lunar rock brought to Earth by Neil Armstrong and brought to the top of Mount Everest by astronaut Scott Parazynski is now an...

Dutch Museum's 'Moon Rock' an Out-of-This-World Fake

Gift from NASA is just petrified wood, tests reveal

(Newser) - A “moon rock” exhibited at the Dutch national museum is actually petrified wood, the BBC reports. The three Apollo 11 astronauts gave the object to former PM Willem Drees on a tour following their 1969 moon mission; NASA shared similar artifacts with more than 100 other countries. The purported...

Water Found in Moon Rock
 Water Found in Moon Rock 
Jul 10, 2008 5:00 AM CDT

Water Found in Moon Rock

Discovery stuns lunar experts

(Newser) - Water has been detected in moon rock brought to Earth by Apollo astronauts, reports Space.com. A team used a new super-sensitive technique to discover the water in volcanic glass beads in the rock. The stunning find, detailed in the journal Nature, is forcing scientists to rethink theories about the...

Moon Rocks Still Giving Up Gritty Secrets

Lunar rocks have helped unlock secrets of solar system, demise of dinosaurs

(Newser) - Almost 40 years after Apollo astronauts brought samples of the moon back to Earth, the extraterrestrial rocks are still yielding new information, the New York Times reports. In addition to attention from the Johnson Space Center, where they reside, samples are mailed out—on loan only, and usually less than...

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