Sealed Cache of Moon Rocks To Be Opened By NASA

'Scientists are hoping to unlock some of the universe's mysteries through 50-year-old moon rocks,' reports the New York Daily News -- specifically, three samples that spent that half century sealed in airtight canisters.
One Apollo 18 sample from 1972 contains 1.8 pounds of a vacuum-sealed lunar core that is a stratified layer of rock that will be studied by six research teams. About 842 pounds of lunar rocks and soil have been brought back to Earth over six missions. Although a great deal of it has found its way to science labs, technological breakthroughs should allow for a more thorough comprehension of the satellite's chemical and geological composition...
'When the previous generations did Apollo, they knew the technology they had in that day was not the technology we would have in this day,' said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. 'So they made a determination that they would preserve samples. ⦠I'd like to thank, if it's OK, the Apollo generation, for preserving these samples, so that our generation could have this opportunity.'
An anonymous Slashdot reader writes, 'That's remarkable considering how often moon rocks were misplaced over the years.'

Read more of this story at Slashdot.