In 1972, when geologist and Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt spotted a patch of unusual orange soil on the Moon, he knew it was special, but he wasn’t sure exactly why. “Until it was possible to ...

NASA scientists opened an untouched rock and soil sample from the Moon returned to Earth on Apollo 17, marking the first time in more than 40 years a pristine sample of rock and regolith from the ...

In December 1972, astronauts on the Apollo 17 lunar mission returned to Earth with samples of rock and soil from the moon. On Tuesday, NASA scientists opened a sample that had been sealed and ...

As part of the ANGSA program, the Apollo Next-Generation Sample Analysis (ANGSA) experiment will analyze pristine moon samples returned to Earth from the Apollo missions. For this program, the ...

Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto. Back in ...

Apollo sample processors (from left) Andrea Mosie, Charis Krysher and Juliane Gross open lunar sample 73002 at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.James Blair/NASA/JSC NASA has opened a previously ...

Apollo sample processors Andrea Mosie, Charis Krysher and Juliane Gross open lunar sample 73002 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. (NASA Photo / James Blair) For the first time in more than 40 ...

(Gray News) — One of the last unopened Apollo-era moon samples collected nearly 50 years ago during Apollo 17 was opened, NASA said. Sample 73001 was opened in a process which took place from March 21 ...

A close-up of Apollo 17 lunar core sample 73001 being taken out of its drive tube for the first time since it was collected by Apollo astronauts in December 1972 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in ...

(CBS NEWS)- In December 1972, astronauts on the Apollo 17 lunar mission returned to Earth with samples of rock and soil from the moon. On Tuesday, NASA scientists opened a sample that had been sealed ...