[meteorite-list] The Apollo Moon Rock Collection

From: Richard Montgomery <rickmont_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2011 18:04:29 -0700
Message-ID: <B5ACF32588474E56939DACD61EDE2FBD_at_bosoheadPC>

Carl, and List,

THIS is why and how I am proud to be part of this List discussion group.
Between the banter and sometimes painful childish rancor, the gems show up.

To the point: when we consider posterity and the opportunity for future
study of things not yet even concieved, let alone invented, we have this
wisdom of preservation foresight to thank. After all, time is eternity,
and who friggin' knows when or if we'll ever get back to the moon.

If, hopefully, we're on to further horizons, our lunar partner may sit there
for generations...and we may have preserved the evidentiary keys.

Thanks Carl for the post!
-Richard Montgomery




----- Original Message -----
From: "Carl Agee" <agee at unm.edu>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Monday, June 27, 2011 10:24 AM
Subject: [meteorite-list] The Apollo Moon Rock Collection


> Having been in charge of the Apollo Collection as well as the other
> collections at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) from 1998-2002, here is
> my take on this discussion. One of the main goals of curation at JSC
> is preserving the collection for posterity and for future study with
> instruments not yet imagined or by scientists not yet born. The Moon
> rocks are treated like a national treasure. As many of you may know,
> the curation protocols at JSC are the "gold standard" for
> extraterrestrial sample handling. For example, the collection is kept
> in high purity nitrogen, only materials restricted to of short list of
> aluminum, stainless steel, and Teflon are allow to touch the samples.
> The curation facility was built as a clean lab with positive air
> pressure, airlocks, and is operated by a highly trained staff. The
> Lunar Vault is built to withstand hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods --
> and just to be on the safe side NASA has placed 15% of the collection
> at White Sands Test Facility, a few miles outside Las Cruces, New
> Mexico, locked away for safe keeping just in case of a catastrophic
> loss of the Lunar Lab in Houston. When people think about what a Mars
> Sample Return Lab design might look like, the first place they start
> from is the Lunar Sample Lab.
>
> Clearly, JSC does a fabulous job of handling, curating, and keeping
> the lunar samples safe, there is no museum or private collector in the
> world that comes close to Lunar Lab quality. However, the one thing
> that I think is missing from this facility is an equally spectacular
> public outreach component. Sure, the public can look at a few Moon
> rocks at museum displays here and there nationwide, but very few
> people ever get the privilege of being a visitor at the Lunar Lab. It
> is NOT open to the public. I think NASA, and JSC in particular, could
> enhance its image and boost public excitement and support for
> astromaterials research by somehow giving better public access to view
> these crown jewels in their laboratory setting.
>
> You may have guessed already that I'm not a big proponent of selling
> off the Moon Rocks to fund NASA missions, as a few people on the list
> have proposed. Even if Americans thought this was a good idea, I am
> pretty sure we would come up a few billion dollars short to do
> anything like a decent robotic Mars Sample Return. Furthermore, I
> doubt if many Americans would be in favor of cutting up pieces of the
> Declaration of Indepence or chunks of the Liberty Bell to sell as high
> priced souvenirs, or sell off tracts of Yellowstone Park to reduce our
> nation's debt. But I do think the Lunar Collection could be opened up
> to the public in away that would be beneficial to everyone, not the
> least to NASA itself.
>
> Carl Agee
>
> --
> Carl B. Agee
> Director and Curator, Institute of Meteoritics
> Professor, Earth and Planetary Sciences
> MSC03 2050
> University of New Mexico
> Albuquerque NM 87131-1126
>
> Tel: (505) 750-7172
> Fax: (505) 277-3577
> Email: agee at unm.edu
> http://epswww.unm.edu/iom/pers/agee.html
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Received on Mon 27 Jun 2011 09:04:29 PM PDT