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Roll Overs:
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Lunar Olivine Basalt (15555)
This is a piece of the 9416 gram Specimen 15555 brought back to Earth by the Apollo 15 astronauts - Commander David Scott, Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin, and Command Module Pilot Alfred Worden. It was sawn into many pieces for study and this is probably #880, which weighs 391 grams.
Lunar Olivine Basalt
John writes:
Olivine (Mare) Basalt from Apollo 15 Mission to Moon. Another beautiful example shown in the rocks and meteorite area of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC.
From the Lunar and Planetary Institute:
Collected about 12 meters north of the rim of Hadley Rille, with no fresh craters in its immediate vicinity, and from an area with fewer rocks exposed than at the Rille edge.
("Great Scott") is both the largest and the most intensively studied of the Apollo 15 rocks. It is a medium-grained olivine basalt, with a few percent small vugs. It is probably very close to a liquid composition, i.e., it contains few, if any, accumulated crystals. It crystallized ~3.3 b.y. ago. Unlike other nearby rocks, 15555 was not dust-coated. It is generally tough, but many exterior chips fell off during earth transit and many of these pieces are friable. It is sub-rounded and blocky, with many zap pits. |
Click to view larger photos
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Found at the arrow (green or red) on the map below
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John Divelbiss
2/25/2017 8:25:56 PM |
thank you for the comments. as Simon said this basalt material looks like bedrock more than a typical lunar regolith or impact melt. it really is stunning to see in person. |
Jansen Lyons
2/25/2017 9:50:40 AM |
Wow! Primordial moon, Lunar samples, awesome! |
MexicoDoug
2/25/2017 9:09:12 AM |
On youtube search for this video: KbkFY_oqjVA
Link shows difficulties of large specimen collection; also claiming to be the collection of this sample 15555. Appeared to me like Irwin collected the sample in the video, though NASA's document indicates Scott as 'collector' in curator.jsc.nasa.gov/lunar/lsc/15555.pdf)
"Want me to come down, Dave?"; "Got a good one"; " I guess so"; A little bigger than six inches, but it was neat looking!" |
Simon de Boer IMCA 9708
2/25/2017 6:13:30 AM |
nice sample John of a non impact related and non meteoritic altered lunar sample , as close to true primordial moon stone that I have ever seen this close . thanks John |
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