Rockets, Missiles, and Spacecraft of the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian InstitutionMurphy, Lynne C.
History
Rockets, Missiles, and Spacecraft of the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution
Murphy, Lynne C.
Astronautics -- United States -- Exhibitions; National Air and Space Museum
Subsequent analysis of the samples has indicated that the moon’s surface
is largely composed of three kinds of rock.
Basalt, the rock of the maria regions, was formed as lavas from the
interior of the Moon welled to the surface, filled the great meteoric
impact basins, and then cooled.
Anorthosite, the highland rock, is believed by many scientists to have
formed when the original crust of the Moon cooled and solidified.
According to this theory, a light mineral, plagioclase, floated to the
surface of the Moon and formed the anorthosite.
Breccia, the shocked rock, is composed of large and small fragments of
rocks which were shattered and redistributed on the lunar surface by
meteoric impacts. Subsequently, the fragments were recombined into new
rocks by heat and pressure.
Lunar soils are largely composed of fragments of the three types of
rocks and their minerals, and glass produced by meteoric impacts and
volcanic eruptions.
Lunar rock samples are on loan from the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
[Illustration: 92. Astronaut Schmitt collects samples with the lunar
rake, a hand tool used to collect rocks and rock chips ranging in
size from 1.3 centimeter (½ inch) to 2.5 centimeters (1 inch).]
Suggested Reading
Historical and General Background
Clarke, Arthur C. _The Promise of Space._ New York: Harper & Row,
1968.
Dornberger, Walter. _V-2._ New York: Viking Press, 1954.
Durant III, Frederick C.; and George S. James, eds. _First Steps
Towards Space_ (Smithsonian Annals of Flight, No. 10).
Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974.
Available through the Superintendent of Documents, U.S.
Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 (stock no.
4705-00011).
Emme, Eugene, ed. _The History of Rocket Technology._ Detroit:
Wayne State Press, 1964.
Ley, Willy. _Rockets, Missiles, and Men in Space._ New York:
Viking Press, 1968.
Stoiko, Michael. _Soviet Rocketry: Past, Present and Future._ New
York: Holt, Reinhart & Winston, 1970.
Von Braun, W.; and F. I. Ordway. _History of Rocket and Space
Travel._ New York: T. Y. Crowell, 1975.
Biographical
Lehman, Milton. _This High Man._ New York: Farrar, Straus &
Giroux, 1963.
Thomas, Shirley, ed. _Men of Space._ 8 vols. Philadelphia: Chilton
Book Co., 1963.
Popular
Cortright, Edgar M. _Exploring Space with a Camera._ Washington,
D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1968.
Davis, Merton; and Bruce C. Murray. _View From Space: Photographic
Exploration of the Planets._ New York: Columbia University
Press, 1971.
Gatland, Kenneth. _Spacecraft and Boosters._ Fallbrook,
California: Aero Publications, 1964.
——. _The Robot Explorers._ New York: Macmillan, 1972.
Moore, Patrick.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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