#TBT Pictured here is the first lunar sample that was photographed in detail in the Lunar Receiving Laboratory (LRL) at the Manned Spacecraft Center, now NASAJohnson Space Center. This granular, fine-grained, mafic (iron magnesium rich) rock was among the samples collected by NASAAstronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin during their lunar surface extravehicular activity on July 20, 1969. The first batch of Moon rocks and film magazines from Apollo 11 arrived at the LRL on July 25, 1969 having flown from the prime recovery ship USS Hornet to Ellington Air Force Base in Houston, via Johnston Island in the Pacific Ocean. The second batch arrived about six hours later. The next day, about 48 hours after splashdown, scientists in the LRL opened the first box of samples for humanity’s first glimpse of Moon rocks. Credit: NASA #Moon #Apollo #LunarSurface #MoonRock #Astronauts