Moon Rock
LUNAR SAMPLE; 70215,287
This Moon rock was collected by Astronaut Jack Schmitt near the Apollo 17 Lunar Module landing site. The rock weighs 17 grams and is a fragment of a much larger original sample.
The rock is known as a mare basalt, a porous rock produced from cooled lava. Formed approximately 3.7 billion years ago, it is older than 99.99% of all surface rocks on Earth.
Scientists continue to study the Apollo Program lunar samples today at NASA's Johnson Space Center and other research institutions around the world.