Apollo 11 sample inventory
Apollo 11 returned the first samples of another world — 21,836 g (21.84 kg / ~48 lb) as weighed in the Sample Catalogue’s Table 1, reported as 20–22 kg across the 1969 sources — in 53 catalogued samples (numbered in the 10000 series), all gathered within ~15 m of the lunar module during the single EVA. The 53 partition exactly across the three return containers — 10 in the contingency bag (1,015 g), 17 in the bulk box (ALSRC #1003, 14,897 g), 26 in the documented box (ALSRC #1004, 5,923 g) — the per-sample biography (when, by whom, into what, with what field record) is the provenance reconstruction. This is the consolidated inventory, compiled sample-by-sample from the Lunar Sample Compendium with the per-sample ages, chemistry, exposure ages, and provenance gathered across the geology concepts.
By count the collection is dominated by breccias (26) and the crystalline basalts (20), with 5 soils/fines and 2 drive-tube cores; by mass it is dominated by the two big soils (10002, 10084) and the largest basalt (10017, the 973 g largest rock returned). The crystalline rocks divide into two ilmenite-basalt suites — younger high-K, older low-K — and the breccias are almost all shock-lithified regolith. The 1969 field classification is shown below as PSR class: A/B crystalline basalt, C breccia, D fines (the Preliminary Science Report counted 20 crystalline rocks as 10 type A + 10 type B).
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 authoritative total is the Sample Catalogue’s weighed 21,836 g (the 1969 sources report 20–22 kg). Four samples have conflicting masses between the Compendium and the Catalogue’s Table 1 (both render-verified): 10021 (255 vs 250 g), 10025 (8.1 vs 8.59 g), 10070 (60.1 vs 64 g), and 10094 (30.3 vs 25.0 g — the later figure larger, which allocation losses cannot explain). The Catalogue also lists 10072 as “Gabbro,” a superseded 1977 label for what the Compendium classifies an ilmenite basalt. Details: discrepancy ledger, B5/D4.
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 |
The dated basalts
Section titled “The dated basalts”Per-sample K₂O, crystallization age, and cosmic-ray-exposure (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 having sampled two distinct lava flows; the widely varying CRE ages (80 → 480 Myr) show the rocks were excavated by different impacts at different times — see surface exposure and space weathering.
Provenance and type minerals
Section titled “Provenance and type minerals”Provenance is coarse — documented sampling was truncated to ~10 minutes, so most samples lack a recorded surface position. Known positions: the contingency collection (10010 + 10021–10032) from in front of the LM; basalt 10044 from between the LM and the SW double crater; the drive tubes (10004/10005) within a few m of the LM. Only 10022, 10023, 10046 were photographed in place. The regolith carries a small exotic component — highland clasts (10063) and orange volcanic glass beads (10059).
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).
(A fuller per-sample listing is in the companion returned-samples master table, which also records per-sample TiO₂/FeO, breccia ages, and modal mineralogy.)
Related
Section titled “Related”- Lunar sample numbering and curation
- Apollo 11 lunar sample types
- Apollo 11 basalt suites (high-K and low-K)
- High-titanium mare basalt
- Surface exposure and space weathering (Apollo 11 samples)
- Minerals first identified in Apollo 11 samples
- Lunar sample collection and containers
- Lunar field geology (Experiment S-059)
- Lunar regolith and soil mechanics
Sources
Section titled “Sources”- Apollo 11 Lunar Sample Compendium
- Apollo 11 Lunar Sample Information Catalogue
- Apollo 11 Preliminary Science Report