[meteorite-list] Identification techniques of possible Lunar material

From: chris handler <cmhandler_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2011 21:57:19 +0930
Message-ID: <BANLkTi=A-LkkRyNczLPoA-m6VsYqQo4eGA_at_mail.gmail.com>

First off, I'm still trying to figure out how to post to this list, so
this is a test post and I apologize if I haven't completely adhered to
the guidelines. I also may as well make this post practical, so I have
a question I'd really appreciate any help with. My name is Chris
Handler and I'm from Adelaide in Australia. I've had several
meteorites for well beyond a decade, but I've only really started to
collect seriously for a year now. In that time though I've had the
pleasure of dealing from quite a few people within this community and
I can say that every moment has been an enjoyable experience. I've
been reading this list for some time now, as a lurker, but I've
decided to come out of the shadows.

With all this talk about Apollo dust and material lately, I thought
that this question might be appropriate for now.
Along with meteorites, I've always been enthralled by sample return
missions and I collect what few artifacts turn up that have a direct
relationship to SRM's. A while ago I acquired a sealed pack of five
secondary sample bottles from the Lunar Receiving Lab. One of these
bottles has some sort of inclusion impregnated into its rim. The
inclusion is around a millimeter across and there is a clear puncture
mark in the rim from where it entered. The five bottles are inside two
separate plastic bags. The outer bag is thin and brittle with a couple
of small holes in it. It is sealed shut with a "cleaned for service"
sticker stating that it was cleaned on the 6/11/71, along with the
number 2552 and the letters WSTF W/U. The second and inner bag however
is a thick sterile bag that has been heat sealed. The bag does not
loose air pressure even when I put weight on it for 24 hours, so the
inclusion found its way there before it was sealed. Given what the
bottles where used for and what the inclusion could possibly be, I
really want to know if there is any possible way to identify something
of this size and if that could be done through the plastic? I'm quite
hesitant to remove it from the bottle because of one; the provenance,
and two; I'd hate to damage an historic item like this and have it
turn out to be a fragment of metal from a tool, or some other
contaminant. If there was some way to confirm it is at least some sort
of natural mineral, I'd consider having id exhumed and imaged at the
local micro imaging lab here, and maybe that would allow comparison to
Apollo material. I know that some micros like Lafayette and Chassigny
commonly come in sizes similar to this inclusion, so is there a method
to authenticate them at that size?

I've attached a couple of photos below of what I was describing. The
first is of the packet of bottles. The inclusion is in the one on the
left hand side.
http://i719.photobucket.com/albums/ww195/cmhandler/CSC_0146-3.jpg

The next one is a macro photo of the inclusion with contrast enhancement.
http://i719.photobucket.com/albums/ww195/cmhandler/CSC_0143-4.jpg

The last shows the perforated opening where the inclusion penetrated the rim.
http://i719.photobucket.com/albums/ww195/cmhandler/CSC_0136_1.jpg

Thank you for taking the time to read this, I'd appreciate any help on
this matter at all.
Regards,
            Chris Handler
Received on Fri 01 Jul 2011 08:27:19 AM PDT