78578 (7) Ilmenite Basalt
Collection:
Apollo 17
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MicroscopeFact sheet
78578 (7) Ilmenite Basalt
78578 is a coarse-grained basalt fragment picked up as part of a large rake sample. It is a coarse-grained high-Ti basalt, somewhat similar to 71557. In addition to plagioclase, pyroxene, olivine and ilmenite, metallic iron, Cr-spinel, tranquillityite, baddeleyite, armalcolite and cristobalite (rotation 1) are reported. It’s a typical Apollo 17 basalt. The sample weighed 17.1 grams before analysis and has not been dated. Further details of this and other Apollo samples are here: http://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/lunar/ |
About this collection
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.