Fact sheet
71175 is an equigranular basalt found partially buried near the 71135-71155 boulder. It has a subophitic texture with long crystals of plagioclase (> 2mm) intergrown with compositionally zoned and twinned pyroxene (rotation 2). Abundant equigranular ilmenite is sprinkled throughout. Large (up to 0.8 mm) regions of silica are reported (see rotation 1). Minor olivine and cristobalite (small crystal in rotation 1) are also present.
The sample weighed 207.8 grams before analysis and has not been dated.
Further details of this and other Apollo samples are here: http://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/lunar/
Apollo 17, the final manned landing mission, had two objectives: to obtain samples of ancient rocks from the lunar highlands and to look for evidence of younger volcanic activity on the valley floor.
This small Collection contains material deriving from both periods, including igneous rocks around 4.3 billion years old from the lunar highlands as well as younger volcanic samples dating from about 3.6 billion years ago.
Apollo 17 was launched on 7 December 1972.