The sample, which was collected from the Moon as part of the Apollo 17 mission of the US National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) in 1972 and kept closed until today, was opened 50 years later.
According to CNN’s report, the sample collected from the Moon about 50 years ago was opened and examined by scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
HAS NOT BEEN OPENED FOR 50 YEARS
“We had the opportunity to open this incredibly valuable specimen that had been vacuumed for 50 years, and we were finally able to see what treasures were held inside,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. used the phrases.
For example, it was noted that it was meticulously examined in order not to suffer any loss, and x-ray technology was used in research.
The sample, called “73001”, was collected from the Taurus-Littrow Valley by astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt as part of NASA’s Apollo 17 mission to the Moon in 1972 and placed in vacuum tubes on the Moon’s surface to be reopened on Earth.
The sample collected from the Moon has so far been kept in a second protective tube at the Johnson Space Center. In this way, the pieces collected from the Moon were stored for future examination with better technologies.
WILL shed light on manned expeditions
Another example collected by Apollo 17 was unveiled in 2019. Samples collected from the lunar surface are expected to shed light on understanding the evolution of the Moon and future manned missions to the Moon.
NASA’s space program to send humans to the Moon began with the Apollo 11 mission. As part of the mission, Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the Moon in 1969.
SHIP TO BE ORGANIZED UNTIL 2025
NASA aims to organize manned missions to the Moon by 2025 as part of the exploration mission named after the Greek Moon goddess “Artemis”.
After the expeditions, which are planned to continue until 2028, it is aimed to establish a space station in lunar orbit and to organize manned expeditions to Mars by using this place as a stepping stone. (AA)