The
Genesis Rock is a sample of original
lunarLunar may refer to:*Relating to the Moon*Lunar , a series of console video games...
crustIn geology, a crust is the outermost solid shell of a rocky planet or moon, which is chemically distinct from the underlying mantle. The crusts of Earth, our Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Io, and other planetary bodies have been generated largely by igneous processes, and these crusts are richer in...
from around the time the
MoonThe Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System. The average centre-to-centre distance from the Earth to the Moon is , about thirty times the diameter of the Earth. The common centre of mass of the system is located at about —a quarter the Earth's...
was formed. It was retrieved from the Moon by
Apollo 15Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the Apollo program and the fourth mission to land on the Moon. It was the first of what were termed "J missions", long duration stays on the Moon with a greater focus on science than had been possible on previous missions. The mission began on July 26,...
astronautAn astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
s
James IrwinJames Benson Irwin was an American astronaut and engineer of Scottish and Irish descent. He served as Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 15, the fourth human lunar landing; he was the eighth person to walk on the Moon....
and
David ScottDavid Randolph Scott , a former NASA astronaut and engineer, was one of the third group of astronauts named by NASA in October 1963. As commander of the Apollo 15 mission, the fourth human lunar landing, he was the seventh person to walk on the Moon and the first person to drive on the Moon...
.
Chemical analysis of the Genesis Rock indicates that the rock is an
anorthositeAnorthosite is a phaneritic, intrusive igneous rock characterized by a predominance of plagioclase feldspar , and a minimal mafic component...
, composed mostly of the
plagioclasePlagioclase is a very important series of tectosilicate minerals within the feldspar family. Rather than referring to a particular mineral with a specific chemical composition, plagioclase is a solid solution series, more properly known as the plagioclase feldspar series...
feldspar,
anorthiteAnorthite is a compositional variety of plagioclase feldspar. Plagioclase is an abundant mineral in the Earth's crust. The formula of pure anorthite is CaAl
2Si
2O
8.-Mineralogy :...
. The rock was formed in the early stages of the
solar systemThe Solar System consists of the Sun and those celestial objects bound to it by gravity, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago...
, at least 4 billion years ago. It was recovered in a crater of the Moon, near other rocks of its kind.
Discussion
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The
Genesis Rock is a sample of original
lunarLunar may refer to:*Relating to the Moon*Lunar , a series of console video games...
crustIn geology, a crust is the outermost solid shell of a rocky planet or moon, which is chemically distinct from the underlying mantle. The crusts of Earth, our Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Io, and other planetary bodies have been generated largely by igneous processes, and these crusts are richer in...
from around the time the
MoonThe Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System. The average centre-to-centre distance from the Earth to the Moon is , about thirty times the diameter of the Earth. The common centre of mass of the system is located at about —a quarter the Earth's...
was formed. It was retrieved from the Moon by
Apollo 15Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the Apollo program and the fourth mission to land on the Moon. It was the first of what were termed "J missions", long duration stays on the Moon with a greater focus on science than had been possible on previous missions. The mission began on July 26,...
astronautAn astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
s
James IrwinJames Benson Irwin was an American astronaut and engineer of Scottish and Irish descent. He served as Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 15, the fourth human lunar landing; he was the eighth person to walk on the Moon....
and
David ScottDavid Randolph Scott , a former NASA astronaut and engineer, was one of the third group of astronauts named by NASA in October 1963. As commander of the Apollo 15 mission, the fourth human lunar landing, he was the seventh person to walk on the Moon and the first person to drive on the Moon...
.
Chemical analysis of the Genesis Rock indicates that the rock is an
anorthositeAnorthosite is a phaneritic, intrusive igneous rock characterized by a predominance of plagioclase feldspar , and a minimal mafic component...
, composed mostly of the
plagioclasePlagioclase is a very important series of tectosilicate minerals within the feldspar family. Rather than referring to a particular mineral with a specific chemical composition, plagioclase is a solid solution series, more properly known as the plagioclase feldspar series...
feldspar,
anorthiteAnorthite is a compositional variety of plagioclase feldspar. Plagioclase is an abundant mineral in the Earth's crust. The formula of pure anorthite is CaAl
2Si
2O
8.-Mineralogy :...
. The rock was formed in the early stages of the
solar systemThe Solar System consists of the Sun and those celestial objects bound to it by gravity, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago...
, at least 4 billion years ago. It was recovered in a crater of the Moon, near other rocks of its kind.
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