[meteorite-list] NPA 07-28-1969 Begin Moon Rock Testing, Elbert King

[MARK BOSTICK]

Paper: The Daily Tribune
City: Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin
Date: Monday, July 28, 1969
Page: 14

Begin moon rock testing at Houston

     SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) - A precious bit of soil dug from beneath 
the moon's surface begins a long series of tests today to determine whether 
it contains any biologically harmful bacteria.
     A few grains will be pulverized for exposure to germ-free mice. Other 
bits will be placed in a container and exposed to elements in the earth's 
atmosphere to determine any reaction.
     The material was taken from one of two core sampling tubes that Edwin 
E. Aldrin Jr. pushed five inches deep in lunar soil while he and Neil A. 
Armstrong explored the moon July 20.
     This sample was hurried to the bio-preparation section of an airtight 
lunar receiving laboratory here so experts can get an early reading on how 
it might affect the sterile mice.
     The results will help determine whether Armstrong, Aldrin and their 
flying companion Michael Collins, can be released from another part of the 
receiving lab on Aug. 11 as planned.
     If the mice develop a disease, the quarantine could be extended.
     Meanwhile, technicians continued the methodical job of canning and 
labeling the 15 pounds of rocks removed Saturday from one of two boxes the 
astronauts returned from the moon.
     The second box containing an estimated 37 pounds of moon treasure, will 
be opened in a day or two in the lab's vacuum chamber.
     When the first box was opened Saturday, scientists were initially 
frustrated by a coating of black moon dust that covered the rocks, hiding 
their secrets.
     But Sunday, they got a good look at one rock when the dust fell off as 
a technician, extending his hands through a glove-port in the vacuum 
chamber, lifted it for closer inspection under a microscope.
     "It appears to be a fine grain igneous rock, with individual mineral 
grains visible on its surface," reported Dr. Elbert King, curator of the 
laboratory.
     Igneous means a rock hardened from a molten mass. It might have been 
born in a volcano. Or such a rock, hardened beneath the surface, might have 
been ripped up by a meteorite impact.
     The rock is small, 2 3/4 inches long, about 1 3/4 inches wide and a 
little less than an inch thick.
     One by one, all the rocks are being placed in small cans, sealed under 
vacuum, for later analysis and ultimate distribution in tiny pieces to 142 
principal investigators around the world for full analyses.
     The samples will remain in quarantine here about two months before they 
are released.
     As the examination and canning continued, King said the moon dust 
covering the rocks certainly is now powered graphite, but its composition 
still is not determined.

(end)

Clear Skies,
Mark Bostick
http://www.meteoritearticles.com

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