Opening a 50-year-old Christmas present from the Moon

esa.int

74 points·TangerineDream··9 comments

This is fascinating, but the article is just about how they're going to open this soil sample "soon". When? I'm interested to hear about what they actually learn.

The Apollo missions continue giving 50years on. Another ongoing experiment is the Lunar Laser Ranging experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Laser_Ranging_experiment

I always enjoy the pictures since I imagine them 20 - 50 years from now looking like ancient tech. These are 50 years old already.

I have been researching old oscilloscopes and find it all crusty and old but it was cutting edge back then.

It's crazy to think that our kids won't know or understand our tech as they grow... and they won't know or understand their own from when they grew up.

Is there a reason they waited 50 years? Was it specifically to wait for new technology to analyse the sample?

Appears so. I found an article from 2019 when they opened some samples as well.

> […] NASA also made the decision to keep some samples completely untouched as an investment in the future, allowing them to be analyzed with more advanced technologies as they are developed. These include samples that remained sealed in their original containers, as well as some stored under special conditions, all intended to be opened and analyzed with more advanced analytical technologies than were available during Apollo.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-opens-previously-unopened-...

This is truly inspiring. What a gift to be alive in the modern age

I couldn't find anything remotely to do with Christmas in this article. Did I miss something?

It’s an allusion to the time of the year.

ESA - For all those others who don't know, off hand ; ESA = European Space Agency.

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