Strange Orange Soil on the Moon

COLLECTION NAME:

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection

mediaCollectionId

NVA2~4~4

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection

Collection

true

Title:

Strange Orange Soil on the Moon

title

Strange Orange Soil on the Moon

Title

false

Explanation:

How did orange soil appear on the Moon? This mystery began [ http://antwrp.gsfc.… http://www.hq.nasa.… ] when astronaut Harrison Schmidt [ http://antwrp.gsfc.… http://www.hq.nasa.… ] noticed the off-color patch near Apollo 17 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.… ]'s Taurus-Littrow [ http://cass.jsc.nas… ] landing site in 1972. Schmidt and fellow astronaut Eugene Cernan [ http://www.hq.nasa.… ] scooped up some of the unusual orange soil [ http://www.hq.nasa.… ] for detailed inspection back on Earth. Pictured above [ http://images.jsc.n… ] is a return sample shown greatly magnified, with its discovery location shown in the inset [ http://images.jsc.n… ]. The orange soil [ http://www.lpi.usra… ] contains particles less than 0.1 millimeter across, some of the smallest particles yet found on the Moon [ http://www.nasm.edu… ]. Lunar geologists now think that the orange soil [ http://www.solarvie… ] was created during an ancient fire-fountain [ http://www.solarvie… ]. Detailed chemical and dating analyses indicate [ http://adsabs.harva… ] that during an explosive volcanic eruption 3.64 billion years ago, small drops [ http://antwrp.gsfc.… ] of molten rock cooled rapidly into the nearly spherical colored grains. The origin of some of the unusual elements found in the soil [ http://curator.jsc.… ], however, remains unknown.

explanation

How did orange soil appear on the Moon? This mystery began [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010523.html http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a17/a17.sta4.html ] when astronaut Harrison Schmidt [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010523.html http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/a17.crew.html#jackbio ] noticed the off-color patch near Apollo 17 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001209.html ]'s Taurus-Littrow [ http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/pub/expmoon/Apollo17/A17_lsite.html ] landing site in 1972. Schmidt and fellow astronaut Eugene Cernan [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/a17.crew.html#genebio ] scooped up some of the unusual orange soil [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a17/a17.sta4.html ] for detailed inspection back on Earth. Pictured above [ http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/images/pao/AS17/10076006.htm ] is a return sample shown greatly magnified, with its discovery location shown in the inset [ http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/images/pao/AS17/10075960.htm ]. The orange soil [ http://www.lpi.usra.edu/expmoon/Apollo17/A17_sampact.html ] contains particles less than 0.1 millimeter across, some of the smallest particles yet found on the Moon [ http://www.nasm.edu/galleries/attm/wl.so.1.html ]. Lunar geologists now think that the orange soil [ http://www.solarviews.com/cap/moon/moondust.htm ] was created during an ancient fire-fountain [ http://www.solarviews.com/cap/volc/fountain.htm ]. Detailed chemical and dating analyses indicate [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1996LPI....27..303D ] that during an explosive volcanic eruption 3.64 billion years ago, small drops [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000322.html ] of molten rock cooled rapidly into the nearly spherical colored grains. The origin of some of the unusual elements found in the soil [ http://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/curator/lunar/lunar.htm ], however, remains unknown.

Explanation

false

Credit and Copyright:

Apollo 17 Crew [ http://www.ksc.nasa… ], NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/ ]

credit_and_copyright

Apollo 17 Crew [ http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo-17/apollo-17.html ], NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/ ]

Credit and Copyright

false

keyword:

Apollo 17

keyword

Apollo 17

keyword

false

facet_when:

1972

facet_when

1972

facet_when

false

facet_where:

Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)

facet_where

Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)

facet_where

false

facet_what:

Apollo 17

facet_what

Apollo 17

facet_what

false

facet_when_year:

1972

facet_when_year

1972

facet_when_year

false

original url:

http://antwrp.gsfc.…

original_url

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010523.html

original url

false

UID:

SPD-APOD-ap010523

uid

SPD-APOD-ap010523

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Link To Source

Source

MEDIA INFORMATION

Strange Orange Soil on the Moon