17 Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility

Johnson Space Center

LOCATION Johnson Space Center, Texas, USA

NEAREST POPULATION HUB Houston, Texas

SECRECY OVERVIEW High-security location: purpose-built labs for the preservation and study of lunar materials.

The Apollo lunar landing missions of 1969–72 brought back invaluable geological samples weighing some 382 kilograms (842 lb). The Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility, covering 1,300 square meters (14,000 sq ft), was constructed in the late 1970s to provide these precious Moon rocks with a permanent, secure and non-contaminating environment, and visitors from outside the scientific community are not welcome.

Around 100 specially screened educators and scientists visit the facility each year to examine samples, which are divided into two kinds: those that have been released to scientists for experimentation and then returned; and “pristine” samples that have not been out of NASA custody since coming to Earth. If visitors are working with pristine samples, they must adhere to the strictest rules. On arrival, they are required to remove any jewelry and change into nylon coveralls (known as “bunny” suits), hats, gloves and multiple pairs of overshoes. They are then given a minute-long air shower to remove any lingering potential contaminants.

Pristine samples are processed in stainless steel cabinets fitted with attached rubber gloves, into which workers insert their hands so that they can manipulate samples without direct contact. Inert nitrogen constantly flows through the airtight cabinets to ensure no build-up of reactive gases that might permeate through the gloves. Any tools that are used undergo a special cleansing regime and are stored in hermetically sealed bags. The only materials permitted to come into contact with pristine samples are stainless steel, aluminum and Teflon. All materials used in the building of the labs themselves were selected to avoid the risk of chemical contamination, and high-tech security systems are in operation at all times.

The Facility’s vault, which contains NASA’s 26,000 pristine samples, has a heavy door fitted with two combination locks. Transfers are made through an airlock, and a further watertight door can be bolted on if there’s a hurricane threat. The vault is elevated above the maximum predicted sea-level rises that might accompany a hurricane. A small but significant proportion of the collection is kept in another secret location, in case disaster ever strikes the Johnson Space Center. Considering these fragments of Moon rocks might help us answer some of the fundamental questions of our Universe, it is easy to see why such measures are in place.

1 OUT OF THIS WORLD The rock samples gathered during the Apollo Lunar missions are kept in Johnson Space Center’s Building 31N, which officially opened for business in 1979. The Facility includes samples gathered from nine separate exploration sites on the Moon.

2 ROCK OF AGES Left: A sample of Moon rock awaiting study in the Lunar Sample Laboratory at JSC. Right: In 1972 Harrison Schmitt became the only geologist to walk on the Moon, when he served aboard the three-man crew of the Apollo 17 mission, the last manned landing on the Moon.