78555 (4) Friable Regolith Breccia
Collection:
Apollo 17
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MicroscopeFact sheet
78555 (4) Friable Regolith Breccia
Rake samples 78555 – 78566 are friable regolith breccias that were collected together and look alike. Only 78555 has been studied. They are fragments of "instant rock" made by compaction of the lunar soil. The breccia is plagioclase feldspar-rich and contains lithic clasts, mineral clasts and glass fragments. Rotation 1 shows a large plagioclase clast and two glass beads - one colourless, the other orange-brown. Another plagioclase clast and a small lithic clast are shown in rotation 2. The sample weighed 6.64 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.