Fact sheet
Samples 14041–14046 are fragments from a fractured clod that broke apart when it was collected. 14041 is a very friable, medium grey regolith breccia with very few clasts. The matrix contains glass and has a seriate grain size distribution of mineral clasts. The matrix is porous (about 35%) containing glass filaments and many tiny grains. The sample has been classified as a vitric matrix breccia. Note the fragment of breccia within breccia near the centre of the field of view, and the large fragment of pale yellow glass at the bottom.
The sample weighed 166.3 grams before analysis. It has not been dated.
Our thin section is slightly thick and displays plagioclase feldspar as pale yellow crystals (in XPL). One such cluster of plagioclase feldspar crystals shown in rotation 2 represents a small fragment of lunar highlands material (anorthosite).
Further details of this and other Apollo samples are here: http://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/lunar/
The Apollo 14 landing site was in a region formed by impact-basin debris.
Most of the 42 kilograms of rocks and soil collected on Apollo 14 are breccias (rocks that are composed of fragments of other, older rocks). In some cases, the rock fragments that form a breccia are themselves breccias. Such rocks obviously have experienced complex histories with multiple generations of impact events. Some breccias were heated enough that some of the material in the rock was melted.
Apollo 14 was launched on 31 January 1971.