Apollo 11 returned samples — master table
A single consolidated, sortable view of all 53 Apollo 11 samples in the Lunar Sample Compendium, with the per-sample chemistry, ages, exposure ages, and provenance that are otherwise scattered across 53 dossiers and several concept articles. Sample numbers link to their raw Compendium dossier.
Sources & method. Classification and mass for all 53 are from the Compendium; crystallization ages, K₂O, and cosmic-ray-exposure (CRE) ages are the verified per-sample figures compiled in Apollo 11 basalt suites and Surface exposure and space weathering; provenance is from Lunar field geology and sample collection; type-locality minerals from minerals first identified. Blank cells = not recorded in the compiled sources (not “zero”). The PSR class is the 1969 field scheme — A/B crystalline basalt, C breccia, D fines — from sample types.
Summary by family
Section titled “Summary by family”| Family | n | Mass range (g) | PSR class | Crystallization age | Character |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soils & fines | 5 | 491–5629 | D | — | Mature mare soil; 10084 is the canonical, most-studied lunar soil (~52% agglutinate, Iₛ/FeO ~75) |
| Drive-tube cores | 2 | 44.8–53.4 | D | — | Near-surface regolith stratigraphy |
| Ilmenite basalt — high-K | 8 | 68.1–973 | A/B | ~3.55–3.63 Gyr (younger) | Higher K, Rb, REE; ~3× the K₂O of the low-K suite |
| Ilmenite basalt — low-K | 10 | 5.5–425 | A/B | ~3.71–3.91 Gyr (older) | Lower K and incompatibles |
| Basalt — other | 2 | 2.7–3.1 | A/B | 10032 ~3.58 Gyr | Vitrophyre 10031 (quenched glass); small fragments |
| Breccias | 26 | 8.1–722 | C | — | Almost all shock-lithified regolith breccias |
| Total | 53 | — | — | — | ~21 kg — essentially the whole ~20–22 kg (~47 lb) return |
Mass caveat. Masses are as-catalogued in the Compendium. A few large samples were later split into separate numbers — notably 10002 → 10084/10086 — so the mass column is not a simple additive inventory; the mission total (~20–22 kg / ~47 lb) is the figure given by the Sample Catalogue and Mission Report.
All 53 samples (by mass, largest first)
Section titled “All 53 samples (by mass, largest first)”| Sample | PSR | Rock type | Mass (g) | Notable (verified) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10002 | D | Bulk soil | 5629 | Largest soil; ²⁶Al ~97 dpm/kg; parent of 10084/10086; bulk box (ALSRC #1003) |
| 10084 | D | Bulk soil (<1 mm) | 3830 | Most-studied lunar soil; mature, ~52% agglutinate, Iₛ/FeO ~75; split of 10002 |
| 10017 | A/B | Ilmenite basalt (high-K) | 973 | Largest rock returned; cryst. 3.59 Gyr; K₂O 0.22; CRE 480 Myr; “tumbled” (orientation recovered from ⁵⁶Co) |
| 10057 | A/B | Ilmenite basalt (high-K) | 919 | High-K; cryst. 3.63 Gyr; K₂O 0.32 (highest); CRE correlates with suite |
| 10086 | D | Bulk soil | 823 | Split of 10002 |
| 10060 | C | Regolith breccia | 722 | Ancient — CRE exposure ~2.3 Gyr |
| 10046 | C | Regolith breccia | 663 | Photographed in place (1 of 3 with known in-situ orientation) |
| 10048 | C | Regolith breccia | 579 | — |
| 10085 | D | Coarse fines | 569 | — |
| 10010 | D | Contingency soil | 491 | First sample of the Moon — scooped from in front of the LM after Armstrong reached the surface (GET 109:37:08, ~12 min after the first step); parent of small rocks 10021–10032 |
| 10072 | A/B | Ilmenite basalt (high-K) | 447 | High-K; vesicular; CRE 235 Myr; type description of armalcolite (“magnesian armalcolite with ilmenite overgrowth”) |
| 10020 | A/B | Ilmenite basalt (low-K) | 425 | Low-K; cryst. 3.77 Gyr; K₂O 0.06 |
| 10065 | C | Regolith breccia | 347 | — |
| 10061 | C | Regolith breccia | 346 | — |
| 10019 | C | Regolith breccia | 297 | — |
| 10058 | A/B | Ilmenite basalt (low-K) | 282 | Low-K |
| 10021 | C | Regolith breccia | 255 | From the contingency area (10021–10032), in front of the LM |
| 10044 | A/B | Ilmenite basalt (low-K) | 247.5 | Low-K; cryst. 3.71 Gyr; K₂O 0.11; CRE ~80 Myr; collected between the LM and the SW double crater |
| 10068 | C | Regolith breccia | 218 | — |
| 10003 | A/B | Ilmenite basalt (low-K) | 213 | Low-K; oldest — cryst. 3.84–3.91 Gyr; K₂O 0.06; CRE 137 Myr |
| 10018 | C | Regolith breccia | 213 | — |
| 10049 | A/B | Ilmenite basalt (high-K) | 193 | High-K |
| 10071 | A/B | Ilmenite basalt (high-K) | 189.5 | High-K |
| 10059 | C | Regolith breccia | 188 | Carries exotic orange volcanic glass beads |
| 10056 | C | Unusual breccia | 186 | The one atypical (non-regolith) breccia of the suite |
| 10045 | A/B | Ilmenite basalt (low-K) | 185 | Low-K |
| 10063 | C | Regolith breccia | 148 | Carries exotic highland (feldspathic) clasts |
| 10047 | A/B | Ilmenite basalt (low-K) | 138 | Low-K; cryst. 3.72 Gyr; type locality of tranquillityite and pyroxferroite |
| 10073 | C | Regolith breccia | 124.5 | — |
| 10069 | A/B | Ilmenite basalt (high-K) | 119.5 | High-K |
| 10050 | A/B | Ilmenite basalt (low-K) | 114.5 | Low-K |
| 10009 | C | Regolith breccia | 112 | — |
| 10022 | A/B | Ilmenite basalt (high-K) | 95.6 | High-K; cryst. 3.58 Gyr; K₂O 0.21; vesicular; photographed in place (known orientation) |
| 10062 | A/B | Ilmenite basalt (low-K) | 78.5 | Low-K; cryst. 3.83 Gyr |
| 10067 | C | Regolith breccia | 69.3 | — |
| 10024 | A/B | Ilmenite basalt (high-K) | 68.1 | High-K |
| 10023 | C | Regolith breccia | 66 | Photographed in place (known in-situ orientation) |
| 10064 | C | Regolith breccia | 65 | — |
| 10070 | C | Regolith breccia | 60.1 | — |
| 10074 | C | Regolith breccia | 55.5 | — |
| 10005 | D | Drive-tube core | 53.4 | Deeper of the two cores; near-surface stratigraphy; within a few m of the LM |
| 10075 | C | Regolith breccia | 53 | — |
| 10082 | C | Regolith breccia | 50.5 | — |
| 10092 | A/B | Ilmenite basalt (low-K) | 46 | Low-K |
| 10004 | D | Drive-tube core | 44.8 | Drive-tube core; within a few m of the LM |
| 10094 | C | Regolith breccia | 30.3 | Highest catalogued number in the Compendium suite |
| 10093 | C | Regolith breccia | 25.8 | — |
| 10091 | C | Breccia | 24 | — |
| 10026 | C | Regolith breccia | 9.3 | From the contingency area (10021–10032); split into 10027/10028 |
| 10025 | C | Breccia | 8.1 | From the contingency area (10021–10032) |
| 10029 | A/B | Ilmenite basalt (low-K) | 5.5 | Low-K (small fragment); contingency area |
| 10032 | A/B | Ilmenite basalt | 3.1 | Small fragment; cryst. 3.58 Gyr; contingency area |
| 10031 | A/B | Vitrophyre basalt | 2.7 | Rapidly quenched glassy basalt; contingency area |
Quantitative core — the dated/analyzed basalts
Section titled “Quantitative core — the dated/analyzed basalts”Per-sample K₂O, crystallization age, and CRE age (the figures behind the two-suite reading). Suite-level chemistry: high-K K₂O ~0.21–0.32, low-K ~0.05–0.11 wt%; both suites strongly high-Ti (TiO₂ ~8–12 wt%) and Fe-rich (FeO ~17–21 wt%).
| Sample | Suite | K₂O (wt%) | Cryst. age (Gyr) | CRE age (Myr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10017 | high-K | 0.22 | 3.59 | 480 |
| 10022 | high-K | 0.21 | 3.58 | — |
| 10057 | high-K | 0.32 | 3.63 | — |
| 10072 | high-K | — | — | 235 |
| 10032 | high-Ti | — | 3.58 | — |
| 10044 | low-K | 0.11 | 3.71 | ~80 |
| 10047 | low-K | — | 3.72 | — |
| 10020 | low-K | 0.06 | 3.77 | — |
| 10062 | low-K | — | 3.83 | — |
| 10003 | low-K | 0.06 | 3.84–3.91 | 137 |
The ~3× K₂O contrast and the ~100–200 Myr age gap are why Tranquility Base is read as sampling two distinct lava flows, not one cooling melt — see Apollo 11 basalt suites. The widely varying CRE ages (80 → 480 Myr) show the rocks were excavated by different impacts at different times.
Provenance — where they came from
Section titled “Provenance — where they came from”- All 53 were gathered within ~15 m of the LM, in the disturbed-regolith zone visible around the descent stage in the LROC image.
- Provenance is coarse: documented sampling was truncated to ~10 minutes, so most samples have no recorded surface position. Known positions: the contingency collection (10010 + small rocks 10021–10032) from immediately in front of the LM; basalt 10044 from between the LM and the SW elongate double crater; the two drive tubes (10004/10005) within a few m of the LM.
- Only 10022, 10023, and 10046 have a known in-situ orientation (photographed before collection).
- Exotic component: highland (feldspathic) clasts in breccia 10063; orange volcanic glass beads in 10059 — foreign material delivered by distant impacts.
Type-locality minerals
Section titled “Type-locality minerals”Three minerals new to science were first described from these rocks (the Moon is their type locality): armalcolite (type description in 10072), tranquillityite (10047), and pyroxferroite (10047). See minerals first identified.