APOLLO NEXT GENERATION SAMPLE ANALYSIS (ANGSA): A JOINT CURATION AND RESEARCH ACTIVITY TO PREPARE FOR ARTEMIS

The Apollo samples returned from the Moon have provided fundamental insights into the origin and history of the Earth-Moon system, and they have been used to place fundamental constraints on the origin and evolution of our solar system broadly. A subset of Apollo samples were preserved for future generations of scientists that could take advantage of technologies that were not invented to answer questions that were not conceived of at the time of sample return. As a first step in preparing for the return of samples from the Moon by the Artemis Program, NASA initiated the Apollo Next Generation Sample Analysis Program (ANGSA). ANGSA was designed to function like the ground element of a sample return mission with sample processing, preliminary examination, and scientific investigations utilizing new and improved technologies on previously unopened Apollo samples.

The ANGSA initiative focused on two distinct types of samples: (1) An Apollo 17 double drive tube, consisting of an unopened vacuum-sealed core sample and its unsealed but unstudied companion core 73002; and (2) Apollo samples that were placed in cold storage approximately 1 month after their return. Both of these sample types offered important new lessons that are relevant to Artemis, and we highlight two of the curation and science improvements that were developed, tested, and validated by ANGSA.

We utilized X-ray computed tomography of the 73001 and 73002 core samples to help plan the dissection of both cores as well as evaluate the interior hardware prior to gas-extraction from the vacuum-sealed 73001 core. The knowledge gained from those XCT scans was crucial for planning how to process the cores, for interpreting the stratigraphy of the core, and for contextualizing the samples. The frozen samples motivated curation to develop a sample processing capability at -20 °C, which will be made a permanent fixture of curation once the cold-processing lab opens in 2025. Furthermore, members of the ANGSA science team demonstrated that storing samples at -20 °C better preserved some volatile elements like noble gases when compared to samples stored at room temperature.

The ANGSA initiative has linked the first generation of lunar explorers (Apollo) with future lunar explorers (Artemis) and has set up the lunar sample science community, curators and researchers alike, for success.