A SPECK of the mineral zircon that’s older than any yet found on Earth has been recovered from a rock sample brought back by Apollo 17 astronauts. The grain has helped pinpoint the age at which the molten moon solidified.
Lunar zircons were not studied at the time of the Apollo missions because the technology to date them did not exist, says geologist Clive Neal of the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. “It’s serendipitous to find this, and really emphasises the [value] of sample returns,” he says.
Zircon previously found in lunar rocks was dated at between 3.90 and 4.35…
