Lunar and Planetary Institute

Lunar Samples

Apollo Samples
Pictures and descriptions of rocks and soil collected by Apollo astronauts on the lunar surface and returned to Earth.

Luna Samples
Pictures and descriptions of rocks and soil retrieved by Luna sample return missions.

Overviews of Apollo samples are available through the links along the right margin.

Detailed descriptions of several samples are available courtesy of the Lunar Sample Curator’s office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.  The information was compiled by Charles Meyers in The Lunar Sample Compendium. Links to specific Apollo and Luna samples in Meyer’s compendium are also provided below in several different categories.


Lunar Samples by Category


BASALT

Lunar basalts are samples of extrusive
lava flows of volcanic magma.
10003 10017 10020 10022 10024 10029
10031 10032 10044 10045 10047 10049
10050 10057 10058 10062 10069 10071
10072 10092 12002 12004 12005 12006
12007 12008 12009 12011 12012 12014
12015 12016 12017 12018 12019 12020
12021 12022 12031 12035 12036 12038
12039 12040 12043 12045 12046 12047
12051 12052 12053 12054 12055 12056
12061 12062 12063 12064 12065 12072
12075 12076 12077 14053 14310 15016
15382 15386 15555 60639 70017 70035
70215 71035 71036 71037 71055 74275
75015 75035 75055 75075 Luna16B1 Luna24170

BRECCIA

Lunar breccias are welded debris from impact craters.
10046 10060 10065 10068 12013 14305
14321 15059 15295 15298 15299 15405
15418 15425 15445 15455 15459 60035
60095 60135 60315 60639 60639 61015
61016 62255 64435 64455 65015 65016
65035 65785 66095 67016 67915 68815
69935 72275 72435 73215 73216 73217
73235 73255 73275 76055 76295 77035
77115 77135

PLUTONIC

Lunar plutonic rocks are coarsely crystalline
rocks of slowly cooled deep-seated origin.
15362 15415 15445 15455 60015 60025
60618 60619 60639 60665 62236 62237
62275 65315 65325 65785 67075 67667
69955 72415 72559 73235 73255 76535
77075 77215 78235 78236 78255 78527

SOIL

Lunar soil is regolith material produced by meteorite bombardment with the lunar surface.
15425 61220 61240 63320 63340 67940
70180 72320 74220 76240 15014 15030
Luna16B1 Luna24170

CORE

A total of 54 feet of core samples has been
collected from the top of the lunar regolith.
12027 14210 14211 14220 15007 15009
15010 60010 60014 64002 68002 70009
76001 79002 A15drill A16drill A17drill Drillcore
Drive_Tubes_Tbl Drive_tubes Hardware

SCR

These samples were used for depth-profile
studies of cosmic-ray-produced nuclides.
10017 12002 12054 14310 64455 68815
74275 A15drill

THIN SECTIONS

These samples are the ones included in the
Educational Petrographic Thin Section Sets.
12002 12005 14305 15299 60025 65015
70017 72275 74220 78235

DISPLAY

About 70 lunar samples are on public display around the world, including:
10017 10020 10045 10047 10057 12006
12018 12022 12047 12053 12055 12065
14305 14310 14321 15016 15459 15555
60015 60025 61016 67915 70017 70035
70215 75015 76055 77035

APOLLO 11

These samples were collected during the Apollo 11 mission.
10003 10017 10020 10022 10024 10029
10031 10032 10044 10045 10046 10047
10049 10050 10057 10058 10060 10062
10065 10068 10069 10071 10072 10092

APOLLO 12

These samples were collected during the Apollo 12 mission.
12002 12004 12005 12006 12007 12008
12009 12011 12012 12013 12014 12015
12016 12017 12018 12019 12020 12021
12022 12027 12031 12035 12036 12038
12039 12040 12043 12045 12046 12047
12051 12052 12053 12054 12055 12056
12061 12062 12063 12064 12065 12072
12075 12076 12077

APOLLO 14

These samples were collected during the Apollo 14 mission.
14053 14210 14211 14220 14305 14310
14321

APOLLO 15

These samples were collected during the Apollo 15 mission.
15007 15009 15010 15016 15059 15295
15298 15299 15362 15382 15386 15405
15415 15418 15425 15445 15455 15459
15555 15014 15030 A15drill

APOLLO 16

These samples were collected during the Apollo 16 mission.
60010 60014 60015 60025 60035 60095
60135 60315 60618 60619 60639 60639
60665 61015 61016 61220 61240 62236
62237 62255 62275 63320 63340 64002
64435 64455 65015 65016 65035 65315
65325 65785 66095 67016 67075 67667
67915 67940 68002 68815 69935 69955
A16drill

APOLLO 17

These samples were collected during the Apollo 17 mission.
70009 70017 70035 70180 70215 71035
71036 71037 71055 72275 72320 72415
72435 72559 73215 73216 73217 73235
73255 73275 74220 74275 75015 75035
75055 75075 76001 76055 76240 76295
76535 77035 77075 77115 77135 77215
78235 78236 78255 78527 79002 A17drill

LUNA

These samples were collected by the
Soviet Luna robotic missions.
Luna16B1 Luna24170

Lunar Receiving Laboratory

Lunar Receiving Laboratory Project History (2004)
NASA-CR-2004-208938, S. Mangus and W. Larsen, 76 pages.

Lunar Petrographic Thin Section Set

Lunar Petrographic Thin Section Set (2003)
Charles Meyer, 67 pages. (Digitized version of the booklet that accompanies the educational thin section set available from the Lunar Sample Curator’s office.)

Lunar Simulants

Guide to Using Lunar Soil and Simulants for Experimentation (1985) 
In Lunar Bases, J. H. Allton et al., 10 pages.

JSC-1: A New Lunar Soil Simulant

Lunar Regolith Simulant Materials Workshop (2004)

Future Sample Requirements

Analysis of Lunar Sample Mass Capability for the Lunar Exploration Architecture (2007)


Lunar Sample Glossary

Glossary of Lunar Sample Terms (1974)
A.M. Reid et al., NASA Johnson Space Center, 32 pages.

 
Image of a Lunar sample