Posted on 08/22/2025 12:29:41 PM PDT by Red Badger
After 50 years of secrecy, scientists have finally opened Apollo 17’s Moon samples.
The Apollo 17 mission, NASA’s final crewed expedition to the Moon in December 1972, returned with valuable lunar samples, including material from the “Light Mantle,” a bright and unusual deposit at the base of the South Massif in the Taurus-Littrow Valley. Though collected over 50 years ago, these samples have only recently been reopened for detailed analysis as part of the Apollo Next Generation Sample Analysis (ANGSA) Program. This initiative utilizes modern technologies to explore lunar mysteries in preparation for future missions, such as NASA’s Artemis program, set to return astronauts to the Moon in the coming years.
The “Light Mantle” has intrigued scientists for its high albedo, or reflectivity, but its origins remain unclear. Recent studies, including those published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, aim to shed light on its formation by examining these samples with advanced techniques like micro-CT scanning.
The Formation of the Light Mantle: A Geological Puzzle
The Light Mantle’s unusual composition has prompted several theories about its origins. One prevailing hypothesis is that the deposit could be ejecta from the Tycho impact, an event that created the 85-kilometer-wide Tycho Crater. The Moon’s surface is marked by countless craters, but Tycho stands out due to its distinct rays of material scattered across the lunar surface, including areas like the South Massif, where the Light Mantle is located.
In a recent paper, Dr. Giulia Magnarini, a lead scientist from the Natural History Museum in London, noted that the origin of the Light Mantle is still a subject of debate. “The high albedo deposit has been suggested to be (a) ejecta material from the Tycho impact; (b) South Massif material mobilized by Tycho ejecta impacting the top of the massif; (c) multiple landslide deposits triggered by the ground shaking associated with seismic activity of the Lee-Lincoln fault in Taurus-Littrow Valley,” Dr. Magnarini explained. These competing theories highlight the complexity of the geological processes at play, with no consensus yet on which factor—or combination of factors—was most responsible for the Light Mantle’s formation.
In addition to the impact hypothesis, another possibility is that the Light Mantle could have formed through a landslide event. As Dr. Magnarini elaborated, the region exhibits features that suggest the involvement of long-runout landslides, a phenomenon that has been well-documented on Earth and Mars but remains unique on the Moon. “I have been studying long runout landslides on Earth and Mars, but the Light Mantle is currently the only one we know of on the Moon,” she explained. “We don’t know how these long runout landslides formed or what allowed them to run for several kilometres.” This landslide theory suggests that seismic activity, potentially triggered by impacts such as Tycho, could have caused material from the South Massif to travel large distances, contributing to the formation of the Light Mantle.
A Breakthrough in Sample Analysis: Advanced Technology Reveals New Insights
One of the most exciting developments in the study of these lunar samples has been the use of modern scanning technologies. When the Apollo samples were first returned to Earth, the available scanning methods were not capable of capturing the fine details of the lunar material. However, today’s advanced micro-CT scanning techniques, which are used in medical imaging, have allowed scientists to peer inside the samples with unprecedented clarity. This high-resolution scanning has been essential for studying the internal structure of the rocks and the processes that formed them.
(a) oblique view of Taurus-Littrow Valley, the 5 km-long Light Mantle deposit and the South Massif; the yellow dot shows the location of the Apollo 17 landing site (LROC NAC image M1266925685L. Image credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University) (b) Photo showing the double drive tube in the ground prior to extraction (AS17-137-20981. Image credit: NASA). (c) A frame from the original footage recorded from the camera on board the Lunar Rover Vehicle showing astronaut Gene Cernan extracting the double drive tube containing material from the Light Mantle deposit (the numbers in the bottom-right corner represent the mission elapsed time in [h:m:s:ds]). (d) Whole-core X-ray images of 73001 and 7300; grayscale X-ray computed tomography slices through central sections of 73002 and 73001 using the 4× down-sampled data sets (voxel size = 51.8 μm). The yellow star in the panels shows the location where the double drive tube core sample 73002/73001 was collected.
Dr. Magnarini emphasized how forward-thinking NASA was in preserving these samples for future study. “NASA was really forward-thinking during the Apollo mission to put some samples aside,” she said. “They were stored so that they could be studied using more advanced technology and new scientific approaches that hadn’t even been thought of at the time.” This foresight is paying off, as the modern tools now available have enabled researchers to uncover new layers of information that were previously hidden.
One of the key findings from the analysis is the discovery of “clasts”—fragments of rock that have broken off from larger masses. These clasts, which are thought to have originated from the South Massif, provide crucial clues about the landslide process. According to Dr. Magnarini, the finer material that coats the clasts is indicative of the way the landslide behaved. “The clasts tell us a lot about the process of the landslide itself and how the material within it has been transported,” she explained. “We saw that the finer material coating the clasts in the core comes from the clast and not the surrounding debris, suggesting that the clasts broke up and helped the landslide to flow more like a fluid.” This insight could help scientists understand how material on the Moon can travel over long distances, despite the Moon’s lack of atmosphere or water to aid in movement.
Implications for Future Lunar Missions and the Artemis Program
The reopening of the Apollo 17 samples is not only a major scientific breakthrough but also a timely step in preparing for future lunar exploration. The data gathered from these samples will help inform upcoming missions, including NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon in 2027. As NASA continues to push the boundaries of lunar science and exploration, the Apollo Next Generation Sample Analysis (ANGSA) Program will remain a key part of the effort.
“The goal of the Apollo Next Generation Sample Analysis (ANGSA) Program is to maximize the science derived from samples returned by the Apollo Program in preparation for future lunar missions anticipated in the 2020s and beyond,” NASA explains. By analyzing these samples with state-of-the-art technology, scientists hope to unlock new insights into the Moon’s history, its geological processes, and its potential for supporting future human missions.
Good grief, flerfer.
You can’t be serious, Shirley.
Yes, I am as serious as petrified wood. And don’t call me Shirley.!
Actually, Capricorn One landed on Mars. Sheila Jackson Lee could see the flag that O.J. Simpson planted there.
Stop lying.
OH was looking on Mars for the real killer.
OJ
Luv it! This is a veritable "connect-the-rocks" 2 + 2 = puzzle.
Well wherever the mysterious Light Mantle came from, it ended up in TL Valley. That's a fact. What are the odds?The “Light Mantle” has intrigued scientists for its high albedo, or reflectivity, but its origins remain unclear.
There must have been a runner involved...
Related article from Space.com:
The Light Mantle, which is a bright 5-kilometer-long (3.1 miles) streak emanating from the base of a 2-km-tall (1.2 miles) mountain called South Massif, was a key target for NASA's Apollo 17 mission in 1972. With geologist Harrison Schmitt as a member of the crew, Apollo 17 returned from the moon with 243.6 pounds (110.5 kilograms) of rock samples, including two core samples from the Light Mantle.There was so much material in the samples that some of it was kept away, stored and sealed, until the time came that scientists had better technology with which to study the samples.
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The origin of the Light Mantle landslide is a mystery, partly because it is the only known landslide on the moon, meaning that we have nothing to compare it to. It's described as a "long run-out" landslide, as the debris that rolled down the mountain spilled out for a long way onto the Taurus-Littrow valley, but what carried it so far is also uncertain.
Using modern micro-CT scanning, which employed medical-level scans on the previously untouched core samples from the Light Mantle...
What caused the only known lunar landslide? Newly opened Apollo 17 moon samples may hold the answer
The inset really makes a great visual -- right between the eyes of the "Little Man" on the Moon (Jacob, for those who haven't been following the lunar analog trail). No wonder he's got that wry smile:
Interestingly, Rabbi Akiva[7] argued the word טוֹטֶפֶת ṭoṭepheth to be a combination of two foreign words: Tot meant "two" in the Coptic[a] language and Fot meant "two" in the "Afriki" language,[8] hence, tot and fot means "two and two", corresponding to the four compartments of the head-tefillin.[9] This would appear to be an early attempt at etymology.
Aderet [אַדֶּרֶת] is the word for Elijah's mantle, but the word first appears here:
Gen 25:25 And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment [כאדרת שער]; and they called his name Esau.
"25:25" tags right back to the first light of Creation, being the 25th word of the Torah. Also that in the alterate dating for Creation (with Rosh Hashanah as 1 Nisan), Creation Day One was the 25th of.. Adar [אדר]. 🤔
God said, “Yehi ohr—Let there be light!” (Bereishit 1:3)The “Light Mantle” has intrigued scientists for its high albedo, or reflectivity, but its origins remain unclear.The Hebrew word “yehi” translates as “let there be,” but the entire phrase can also be read as an equation: yehi = ohr, that is, yehi is the ohr. The word itself can be converted into a gematria of 10+5+10, which has a total of 25, making the phrase read: twenty-five equals light. Even the 25th word in the Torah is “light.”
Tiny, highly abrasive, and likes to stick to things.
The “petrified wood” story comes from a gag gift given to a diplomat in Denmark. It was one tiny piece of petrified wood. There are several hundred pounds of lunar samples. They aren’t “all fake” and aren’t all “petrified wood”.
One of the interesting things I learned during my aerospace career was that there were billions for missions but little funding to analyze data from the missions.
A lot of analysis is performed by students writing papers.
For example, one of my sons was studying geology. Using photos from the Mars orbiter, he found glacial moraines which was evidence of water locked in permafrost.
He published a year before NASA published the same findings.
I personally interviewed the scientists working on the Allen Hills meteorite from Mars. Their evidence of bacterial life was even stronger than what they published.
I also was gifted some Lunar regolith simulant which was created using data from soil samples returned. My eight year old daughter used it for her science project.
She showed that Lunar soil could not grow cabbages without removing the natural salt. On Earth, rain removes salt.
Original science from my eight year old daughter!
Ad astra
Scientists spent time and treasure in Antarctica finding Moon rocks. How would they know if they came from the moon?
Please do not let Fauci near them.
Planet or moon of origin is determined by isotope ratios. Every one is different.
AKA - Somebody got a new bulb for the black light.
Out of the mouths of babe sitters...
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