Much has been learned about the Moon, Earth, and planetary history by studying thin sections of rock samples collected by the Apollo missions. Lunar thin sections are available for loan to educational institutions by NASA through their Petrographic Thin Section Program. Photomicrographs of several of those thin sections are shown here along with links to other online photos of them. There are no accompanying hand sample photos.

Having looked at thin sections of Earth rocks, you will find many Moon rock thin sections to be familiar but different. For example, the lunar basalts do not show the hydrous minerals and alteration commonly observed in terrestrial basalts. And some samples, such as the anorthosite shown here, have been deformed by impact events. Other thin sections, such as those of soils and breccias, may not look so familiar. That we have these samples available to view is amazing indeed!

Photos

• Thin Section Photos

Web Resources

• NASA Lunar Sample Study Guide (Meyer, 2003)
• The Open Univeristy Virtual Microscope Images of Apollo Samples
• Kurt Hollocher's Images of the Apollo Samples

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