NASA Science Live: We Just Opened a 50-Year-Old Moon Sample

When Apollo astronauts began bringing samples from the Moon to Earth over 50 years ago, NASA chose to keep some samples unopened and untouched for future scientists to study. Now, NASA has opened the final pristine core sample of the Moon from the Apollo 17 mission to be studied in state-of-the-art laboratories with the most up-to-date technologies. Have questions? Join NASA experts Thursday, March 24 at 3:00pm ET for an inside look at how decades-old Moon samples are opened and what we hope to learn.

Dr. Juliane Gross is the Deputy Apollo sample curator. In this role she takes care of the Moon rocks, makes sure they are kept safe and provides assistance with selecting samples to help scientists carry out the best research. Dr. Gross’ favorite part about her job at NASA is working with the lunar curation team, helping other scientists and cool special projects like processing samples cold inside a freezer. In her free time, Dr. Gross loves being active and being outdoors and enjoys hiking, rock climbing, running, biking and traveling.

Andrea Mosey is the Apollo sample principal scientist. In this role she manages the day-to-day activities in the Lunar Curatorial Laboratory as directed by the Apollo Sample Curator. Andrea’s favorite part about working at NASA is being able to touch history, each and every day performing an amazing job as one who oversees the 842 pounds of Apollo lunar samples. In her free time Andrea enjoys spending time with family and friends, watching movies and engaging with students in science.

Dr. Jacob Bleacher is NASA’s Chief Exploration Scientist. In this role, Dr. Bleacher works between NASA’s human exploration and the science mission programs to find ways to do the best science as astronauts explore the Moon and space. He loves working with such a diverse workforce and seeing the innovation and creativity that is needed to tackle tough challenges. In his free time, Dr. Bleacher enjoys hiking and camping with his family and friends.

Joy Ng is your host for this episode. When she’s not hosting episodes of NASA Science Live, Joy creates videos about NASA’s research about the Sun and its impact across the solar system. Her favorite part about working at NASA is getting to learn from the world’s experts on space science. In her free time, Joy enjoys riding motorcycles and baking pastries.