Apollo 11 Mission Lunar Sample Overview Apollo 11 basalt 10049.
This sample has a mass of 193 grams and is up to 10 centimeters
across. (NASA/Johnson Space Center photograph S76-25456.) Apollo
11 breccia 10018. This sample has a mass of 213 grams and is up
to 8 centimeters across. (NASA/Johnson Space Center photograph
S75-30226.) Apollo 11 carried the first geologic samples from
the Moon back to Earth. In all, astronauts collected 22
kilograms of material, including 50 rocks, samples of the fine-
grained lunar "soil," and two core tubes that included material
from up to 13 centimeters below the Moon's surface. These
samples contain no water and provide no evidence for living
organisms at any time in the Moon's history. Two main types of
rocks, basalts and breccias, were found at the Apollo 11 landing
site. Basalts are rocks solidified from molten lava. On Earth,
basalts are a common type of volcanic rock and are found in
places such as Hawai'i. Basalts are generally dark gray in
color; when one looks at the Mo