Dubbed 73001, the sample in question was collected by astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt in December 1972, during the Apollo 17 mission — the last of the program
This handout photo released by NASA shows NASA researchers opening an Apollo 17 Moon rock sample at NASAÃs Johnson Space Center in Houston on February 15, 2022. - The Apollo missions to the Moon brought back to Earth a total of 2,196 lunar rock samples. But NASA has only just begun to open one of the last, collected 50 years ago. (Credit: Robert MARKOWITZ / NASA / AFP)