Astro Bob

NASA loaned the moon rock specimen 76015,143 that was put on display in the Oval Office this week. Its quiet presence belies a violent history. NASA  I was thrilled the other day to see a moon rock in President Biden's office. At the request of the Biden Administration, NASA loaned the moon rock in a special display case which now occupies a book shelf in the Oval Office. For the incoming administration it's a "symbolic recognition of earlier generations' ambitions and accomplishments, and support for America's current moon to Mars exploration approach," according to a NASA press release.  In a different Apollo moon rock the dark spots are glass-lined impact craters called zap pits surrounded by lighter rock chipped off during impact. NASA Apollo 17 moonwalkers Harrison Schmidt and Eugene Cernan chipped the sample from a large boulder at the base of a blocky mountain called the North Massif in the Taurus-Littrow Valley on Dec. 13, 1972. Designated as lunar sam...