Genesis Rock
The Genesis Rock is a sample of Moon retrieved by Apollo 15 astronauts James Irwin and David Scott in 1971 during their second lunar EVA.
Chemical analysis of the Genesis Rock indicated it is an anorthosite, composed mostly of the plagioclase feldspar, anorthite. The rock was formed in the early stages of the solar system, at least 4 billion years ago.[1] It was recovered in a crater of the Moon, near other rocks of its kind.
It was originally thought they had found a piece of the Moon's primordial crust, but later analysis initially showed that the rock was only 4.1 ± 0.1 billion years old, which is younger than the Moon itself; and was formed after the Moon's crust solidified. But it was still an extremely old sample, and was from the pre-Imbrian era. Probing the rock with electron beams, geologists pegged the rock's age at 4.5 billion years. It therefore may represent a piece of the primordial crust. The solar system was formed only 100 million years earlier.[2]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Apollo 15 samples overview Lunar and Planetary Institute
- ^ Chaikin, A., and T. Hanks. 1998. A man on the Moon : the voyages of the Apollo astronauts. Penguin Books, New York, N.Y.
[edit] External links
- Lunar and Planetary Institute - Apollo 15
- NASA - Apollo 15
- Discovering the Genesis Rock (From the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, scroll down to 145:41:48.)
- Astronaut Scott examines the Genesis rock. (image)
- An overview of the samples collected by Apollo 15. (The Genesis Rock is sample #15415 and is described but not listed by its number.)
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