The procedure of getting the samples from Johnson to scientists at Goddard– as well as scientists at NASAs Ames Research Center in Californias Silicon Valley, the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., and the University of Arizona, Tucson– was much more hard than you might think. Its a process that started more than 4 years earlier when NASAs Julie Mitchell and her Artemis curation team at Johnson began developing and retrofitting a facility to process the frozen Apollo 17 samples. This was a new approach and researchers were delighted to employ a strategy that could be applied to future lunar objectives.
” We began this in early 2018 and theres been a lot of technical difficulties that weve needed to conquer to get to this point,” said Mitchell. “This was seen as a practice run for preparing a facility for future cold sample processing.”
” By doing this work were not just facilitating Artemis exploration, but were helping with future sample return and human exploration into the rest of the planetary system,” Mitchell included. “I feel really privileged to contribute in this small method by developing the capabilities for us to collect these products, bring them home safely, and curate them for the long term.”
As soon as the facility was all set, Ryan Zeigler, Apollo sample curator in the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Division at Johnson, and his group needed to adjust to the special conditions designed by Mitchells team to keep the samples frozen during processing, that included reduced presence due to frost and obstacles controling the samples while working with thick gloves in a nitrogen-purged glove box, all of which occurred inside a walk-in freezer preserved at minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20 C). Having the ability to keep samples frozen will be essential for Artemis as astronauts potentially return ice samples from the Moons South Pole.
” Everything we do involves a great deal of logistics and a great deal of facilities, but adding the cold makes it a lot harder,” said Zeigler. “Its an important learning lesson for Artemis, as having the ability to procedure samples in the cold will be much more important for the Artemis mission than it is for Apollo. This work offers us some lessons discovered and a great feed forward for Artemis.”
As soon as the frozen samples were processed and partitioned at Johnson by lunar sample processor Jeremy Kent, the samples were then express shipped in a cooler with solidified carbon dioxide, instantly opened at Goddard, and kept in a secure freezer. For the researchers now working with the treasures, theres something special about getting samples that have not been investigated in almost five years.
3 ARES researchers process frozen Apollo 17 samples inside a walk-in freezer kept at minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20 C). Below the laboratory dress, they wear parkas, gloves, and hats to keep warm. Credit: NASA/Robert Markowitz
Jamie Elsila, a research scientist in the Astrobiology Analytical Laboratory at Goddard, is focusing on the study of little, volatile natural compounds for her research and analysis of the sample. Previous research study revealed that some lunar samples consist of amino acids, which are essential to life on Earth. Her group desires to understand their origin and distribution in the solar system.
” We believe some of the amino acids in the lunar soils might have formed from precursor particles, which are smaller sized, more unpredictable compounds such as formaldehyde or hydrogen cyanide,” said Elsila. “Our research objective is to identify and measure these small natural unstable substances, as well as any amino acids, and to use the information to comprehend the prebiotic natural chemistry of the Moon.”
Natalie Curran, principal investigator for the Mid Atlantic Noble Gas Research Lab at Goddard, focuses on understanding the history that the samples might have experienced during their life time on the Moon. The surface area of the Moon is an extreme environment and unlike the Earth, it does not have an atmosphere to protect it from exposure to space.
” Our work allows us to utilize honorable gases, such as argon, helium, neon, and xenon, to determine the period a sample has been exposed to cosmic rays, and this can assist us understand the history of that sample,” stated Curran. “Cosmic rays can be damaging to organic product that may be in a sample, so comprehending the duration assists to figure out the effects that direct exposure has actually had on the natural.”
Researchers will analyze both sets of samples to establish if there are differences in the organic content. Comprehending any variations caused by the various curation methods may notify future decisions about how to store samples returned by Artemis astronauts, part of what the ARES group at Johnson will be doing.
For Elsila, “its very cool to think of all the work that entered into gathering the samples on the Moon and then all the forethought and care that went into preserving them for us to be able to examine at this time,” she kept in mind.
As for Curran, “when you think about how these samples have come from another world, how far they have actually traveled and the planetary system history they have protected inside of them, it always blows my mind,” she included.
A frozen Apollo 17 sample being processed inside a nitrogen-purged glove box at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston. The sample is among lots of being studied as part of the Apollo Next Generation Sample Analysis Program (ANGSA) program. Credit: NASA/Robert Markowitz
Scientists at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, just recently got samples of the lunar surface that have actually been carefully kept in a freezer at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston since Apollo 17 astronauts returned them to Earth in December 1972.
This research belongs to the Apollo Next Generation Sample Analysis Program, or ANGSA, an effort to study the samples returned from the Apollo Program in advance of the upcoming Artemis missions to the Moons South Pole.
Scientists at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, recently got samples of the lunar surface area that have actually been curated in a freezer at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston because Apollo 17 astronauts returned them to Earth in December 1972. Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center
A frozen Apollo 17 sample being processed inside a nitrogen-purged glove box at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston. The sample is one of many being studied as part of the Apollo Next Generation Sample Analysis Program (ANGSA) program. Its a procedure that started more than 4 years back when NASAs Julie Mitchell and her Artemis curation group at Johnson started designing and retrofitting a center to process the frozen Apollo 17 samples. “Its a crucial learning lesson for Artemis, as being able to process samples in the cold will be even more essential for the Artemis mission than it is for Apollo. 3 ARES scientists process frozen Apollo 17 samples inside a walk-in freezer maintained at minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20 C).
