This historic NASA film documents the handling and care of moon rocks returned to Earth from the Sea of Tranquility by the astronauts of Apollo 11. The Lunar Receiving Laboratory (shown at the 1:30 mark) was the facility where samples were examined, described, photographed, weighed, and prepared for study. Interestingly, Earth plants and insects were exposed to the lunar materials to determine if there were any pathogens on the samples.

Apollo 11 carried the first geologic samples from the Moon back to Earth. In all, astronauts collected 22 kilograms of material, including 50 rocks, samples of the fine-grained lunar “soil,” and two core tubes that included material from up to 13 centimeters below the Moon’s surface. These samples contain no water and provide no evidence for living organisms at any time in the Moon’s history. Two main types of rocks, basalts and breccias, were found at the Apollo 11 landing site.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com