The moon landing: 50 years

It’s been 50 years since Apollo 11. The mission? To put the first man on the moon. Those men were Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, and they spent years preparing for the moon landing. 

When the astronauts reached the moon, they collected 20 kg of rocks to discover what it is made of. Mostly, scientists have discovered that the moon is 45% oxygen and 21% silicon, combined with metals like aluminium and iron. They also used isotopic dating to discover that the moon’s surface began to harden 4.5 billion years ago! 

However, there are still many things about the moon that we don’t understand.

This story is related to the Inorganic Chemistry section of the Chemistry A Level course

For more on this story, check out this article.

The mineral composition and geology of the surface of the moon (it isn't made of cheese).
The mineral composition and geology of the surface of the moon (it isn’t made of cheese). Prof Sara Russell, NHM.

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