Genesis Rock
The Genesis Rock (sample 15415) is a sample of Moon rock retrieved by Apollo 15 astronauts James Irwin and David Scott in 1971 during the second lunar EVA, at Spur crater. With a mass of c. 270 grams (4,200 grains),[1] it is currently stored at the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility in Houston, Texas.
Rock
Chemical analysis of the Genesis Rock indicated it is an anorthosite, composed mostly of a type of plagioclase feldspar known as anorthite. The rock was formed in the early stages of the Solar System, at least 4 billion years ago.[2]
It was originally thought they had found a piece of the Moon's
period of the Moon's history. Dating of pyroxenes from other lunar anorthosite samples gave a samarium–neodymium age of crystallization of 4.46 billion years.[4] Other research methods approximate the age of the rock to be between 4 and 5 billion years old.[5]
See also
- Apollo 15 operations on the Lunar surface
- Hadley–Apennine
- Lunar sample displays
- Stolen and missing Moon rocks
References
- ^ "15415 Ferroan Anorthosite" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
- ^ Apollo 15 samples overview Lunar and Planetary Institute
- ^ Association (USRA), Universities Space Research. "Earth's Oldest Rock Found on the Moon". NASA Solar System Exploration. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
- ^ Norman, M. D., Borg, L. E., Nyquist, L. E., and Bogard, D. D. (2003) Chronology, geochemistry, and petrology of a ferroan noritic anorthosite clast from Descartes breccia 67215: Clues to the age, origin, structure, and impact history of the lunar crust, Meteoritics and Planetary Science, vol 38, p. 645-661 Summary
- ISSN 0012-821X.
External links
- Lunar and Planetary Institute - Apollo 15
- NASA - Apollo 15
- Discovering the Genesis Rock Archived 2021-01-25 at the Wayback Machine (From the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, scroll down to 145:41:48.)
- Astronaut Scott examines the Genesis rock. (image Archived 2021-08-01 at the Wayback Machine)
- An overview of the samples collected by Apollo 15. (The Genesis Rock is sample #15415 and is described but not listed by its number.)