When the moon-walking Apollo 11 astronauts returned to Earth in 1969, among the forty seven.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of lunar rocks they brought with them hadbeen3 minerals from Tranquility Base that were assumed to be unique to the Moon or lunar and possibly Martian meteorites. They ended up armalcolite (called following Neil Armstrong, Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin and Michael Collins), pyroxferroite and tranquillityite. The two armalcolite and pyroxferrite had been afterwards identified on Earth, leaving tranquillityite as the very last mineral considered to have no terrestrial counterpart. Now tranquillityite has also been struck off the record with its discovery in the remote Pilbara location of Western Australia…
Carry on Studying Very last mineral thought to be exclusive to the Moon discovered in Australia
Segment: Science and Education
Tags: Apollo eleven,
Australia,
Lunar,
Moon
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