Question: what is the most interesting substance you have found on a rock ?

Samantha Faircloth answered on 20 Mar 2020:

Hello Naiya! That’s a fantastic question! : -) The most interesting thing found in the Moon rocks I study that were returned to Earth by NASA astronauts is water! Only 10 years ago scientists really believed that the Moon was bone dry with no water! However, in the volcanic rocks I study is a crystal (also known as a mineral) called ‘apatite’ and it is amazing because locked within the crystal is water (made up of chemical elements called hydrogen and oxygen)! This was such a surprise that scientists have been looking for more water and we now believe that there is a lot locked up in the south pole ice cap on the Moon! Future Moon missions have now been planned to visit this region of the Moon and extract the water so that astronauts can live on the Moon! : -)