Apollo 17 Sample 76015, 143
Copyright © 2007 by Ulrich Lotzmann and Eric Jones.
All rights reserved.
Last revised 28 July 2007.
Close-up of the outer surface as the astronauts saw it on the
Moon. The large depressions are vesicles: the imprints of gas bubbles
trapped in the rock in its molten state following a massive impact. The
light-colored areas are are centered on "zap pits": small craters
blasted into the rock surface by small impactors as it sat on the lunar
surface. The light colored regions represents rock shattered in the
immediate vicinity of each of the tiny impacts. In some cases, small
amounts of melt was produced and was ejected onto the surrounding
surface. The display portion shown here - 76015, 143 - weighs 333-gram.
Photographed by Ulli Lotzmann in December 2006 at Deutsches
Technikmuseum Berlin.
Location of the Station 6 Split Boulder (upper right).
Photo taken by Jack Schmitt during the drive north from the LM.
Click on the image for a larger version.
Plan view of Station 6.
Sample 76015 was lifted off the top
of Block 5. The Station 6 boulder rolled, bounced, and slid down the
North Massif from an outcrop much higher on the mountain. It carved a
boulder track diagonally down the mountain as it moved from upper left
to lower right in the plan map. It came to a stop when it encountered a
flatter slope at its present location. It must have landed pretty hard
as it stopped, because it broke into five major pieces.
Figure from the Apollo 17 Sample Catalog, Volume 4.
This "after" photo, AS17-140-21413,
shows the location from which sample 76015, a 2.8 kg, loose fragment of
vesicular melt breccia, was removed. The inset (from AS17-140-21411) is the "before" photo.
This whole-rock photo shows the outer surface that they
astronauts would have seen before lifting the sample off of Block 5.
Photo courtesy Mike Gentry, NASA Johnson. Click on the image for a
larger version.
NASA photo S76-21672 shows sample 76015 after being saw cut at
the Lunar Receiving Laboratory in 1976. Lunar samples destined for
scientific analysis and/or public display were divided into several
pieces, some of which were put directly into secure storage for later
use. Sample portion 18 is on the left. Portion 19, the parent of
display portion 143, is on the right. Photo courtesy Charles Meyer,
NASA Johnson.
Diagram showing the parentage of 76015, 143. Courtesy Charles Meyer, NASA Johnson.
Apollo 17 sample 76015, 143 as displayed at Deutsches
Technikmuseum Berlin in December 2006. We are seeing the outer surface.
There appears to be a fresh face to the left of center, one largely
devoid of zap pits, that may have resulted from a piece breaking off.
NASA photo S87-34948 shows sample 76015,143
after being prepared for public display. This portion weighs 333 grams.
We
are seeing the natural surface. This view was taken from a view point
slightly to the left of the prior image. The edge of the larger of two
saw cut surfaces is on the left. Photo courtesy Charles Meyer, NASA
Johnson, who prepared the display sample.
Side view of the major saw cut as seen on the display portion
at Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin. The gray area on the right, just
above the bulge is the fresh surface, noted previously, that is devoid
of zap pits. Photographed by Ulli Lotzmann in December 2006.
Display at Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin.
The label
reads,"This moon rock was collected during the Apollo 17 mission. It is
about 4 billion years old." The major saw cut surface is almost facing
the camera and the edge of the secondary saw cut surface at the lower
left. Photographed by Ulli Lotzmann in December 2006. Click on the
image for a larger version.
View showing the major saw cut surface on the display portion
at the upper right. The horizontal lineations are undoubtedly relics of
the cutting process. The secondary cut surface is on the bottom.
Photographed by Ulli Lotzmann in December 2006 at Deutsches
Technikmuseum Berlin.
View showing the major saw cut surface at the upper right. The
secondary cut surface is on the lower left. Photo courtesy Charles
Meyer, NASA Johnson.
NASA photo S87-34949 shows the secondary cut surface at the
bottom. The edge of the major saw cut surface is on the right. Note the
elongated vesicle on the secondary sawcut surface. Photo courtesy
Charles Meyer, NASA Johnson.
Close-up of the elongated vesicle on the secondary saw cut
surfaces. Photographed by Ulli Lotzmann in December 2006 at Deutsches
Technikmuseum Berlin.
Close-up of vesicles and zap pits. Photographed by Ulli Lotzmann in December 2006 at Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin.
The following section links to a discussion of sample 76015 from the Apollo 17 Sample Catalog, Volume 4.
- Page 5 - Introduction to Large Boulder at Station 6, Geologic Setting ( 0.4 Mb )
- Page 11 - Sample 76015, Introduction and Petrography; Figure 1 ( 0.4 Mb )
- Page 12 - Petrography (cont.); Figure 2 ( 0.4 Mb )
- Page 13 - Figures 3 and 4 ( 0.4 Mb )
- Page 14 - Petrography (cont.), Whole Rock Chemistry, Significant Clasts, Radiogenic Isotopes; Figure 5 ( 0.3 Mb )
- Page 15 - Radiogenic Isotopes (cont.), Cosmogenic Radioisotopes and Exposure Ages; Figure 6 ( 0.3 Mb )
- Page 16 - Figures 7 and 8 ( 0.2 Mb )
- Page 17 - Figures 9 and 10 ( 0.4 Mb )
- Page 18 - Magnetic Studies; Figure 11 ( 0.4 Mb )
- Page 19 - Magnetic Studies (cont.), Vugs, Processing ( 0.3 Mb )
- Page 20 - Figure 12 ( 0.1 Mb )
- Page 21 - Figures 13 and 14 ( 0.2 Mb )
- Page 22 - Table 1 ( 0.2 Mb )
- Page 23 - Table 1 (cont.) and Table 2 ( 0.1 Mb )
- Page 24 - Table 3 ( 0.1 Mb )