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From Apollo to Artemis and beyond: How the Apollo Next Generation Sample Analyses (ANGSA) program helps to prepare for future sample missions to the Moon and beyond

Presentation #110.03 in the session Plenary Session: Astromaterials.

Published onOct 20, 2022
From Apollo to Artemis and beyond: How the Apollo Next Generation Sample Analyses (ANGSA) program helps to prepare for future sample missions to the Moon and beyond

The Apollo Program returned 381 kg of samples. Analyses of these samples have provided fundamental insights into the origin and history of the Earth-Moon system and our solar system. Some of these samples were collected or preserved in unique containers or environments and have remained unexamined by standard or advanced analytical approaches [1]. The Apollo Next Generation Sample Analysis (ANGSA) Program was designed to examine a subset of these special samples and to function as a sample return mission with site characterization, processing, basic characterization, preliminary examination (PE), and analyses utilizing new and improved technologies and recent mission observations [2]. The ANGSA team is examining two distinct types of samples: (1) Apollo 17 double drive tube 73001/2, consisting of an unopened vacuum sealed core sample 73001 and its unsealed but unstudied companion core 73002; and (2) Apollo samples that were placed in cold storage at -20°C after their return to Earth in the early 1970s [1].

Many new curation tools and scientific instruments such as X-ray computed tomography (XCT) [3], multi-spectral imaging [4], and gas extraction manifold with a piercing tool [5,6], have been designed and applied to the ANGSA core to benefit curation strategy, PE efforts, and ultimately sample allocation to the planetary science community [1,2]. With future lunar missions likely to target the polar regions, and the international Mars Sample Return program in preparation, these newly developed instruments and protocols for extracting volatiles that might still be present in 73001, as well as storing and processing cold and/or volatile-bearing samples inside a freezer can provide essential information for developing future sampling containers and curation facilities for Artemis and beyond.

Ultimately, analyses of these unopened and specially curated samples with these new tools and technologies is maximizing the science return from Apollo, enabling a new generation of scientists and curators to refine their techniques [7], and will allow scientists to gain insight into the origin of the lunar polar ice deposits and other potential resources for future lunar exploration, while generally helping to prepare future explorers for sample return missions throughout the solar system.

References: [1] McCubbin et al. (2021) LPSC 52nd, #1541; [2] Gross et al. (2021) LPSC 52nd, #2684; [3] Zeigler et al. (2021) LPSC 52nd, #2632; [4] Sun et al. (2021), LPSC 52nd, #1789; [5] Parai et al. (2021), LPSC 52nd #2665; [6] Schild et al. (2021) LPSC 52nd #1888; [7] Kent et al. (2022) MetSoc 85th, #6497.

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