When Apollo 11 astronauts They returned to Earth, bringing with them a piece of the geology of the Moon. Their objective was not only to know its mineral composition. They also sought to analyze all those rocks in search of organic materials. This involved a complete chemical analysis, but also something much more bizarre: feeding moon dust to cockroaches.
Three types of snacks. NASA scientists wanted to know if there were traces of life in the lunar rock and, in the process, check if it is dangerous for life that already exists on Earth. Therefore, it occurred to them to choose a few animal species that were raised easily and quickly and feed them part of those rocks. They were divided into three groups. In the first they consumed sterilized ground lunar powder, mixed with their food and water. The animals in the second group received the same, but without sterilization. Finally, the last group did not eat lunar dust, although some specimens had to walk on the rock samples.
A very particular Noah’s ark. The chosen animals For this experiment they were Japanese quail, brown shrimp, pink shrimp, oysters, house flies, cockroaches, moths and guppy fish. Only the guppies died. However, it was later found that the cause was fumes from a disinfectant that had been spilled near his fish tank. The lunar regolith had nothing to do with it.
Without a trace of life or danger. In short, it was seen that the lunar dust brought back by the Apollo 11 astronauts did not contain organic compounds or the slightest trace of life. But it was also found that it did not seem to be dangerous for a large number of terrestrial and aquatic animals. It is true that it is said that cockroaches could survive a nuclear attack, but this is a myth. Furthermore, even if it were true, many more animals were included, very different from each other. If none were affected, that’s a good sign.
It is not harmless. Despite what was discovered with this bizarre experiment, today we know that lunar dust is not harmless. In fact, many of the astronauts who traveled to the Moon described something known as lunar hay feverwhich they experienced when the dust clung to their suits and was introduced into the ship. It caused them to sneeze, watery eyes, and have a sore throat. This is because it is a very irritating dust for the mucous membranes and respiratory tract. As if that were not enough, it is also very abrasive. It scratched the astronauts’ helmets, which also caused a lot of discomfort in their eyes.
The rest of the rocks. The other samples and rocks from the Moon were directed to very different purposes. Some were used for research. Others were sent as gifts to a large number of countries to emphasize the collaborative goal of traveling to the Moon. The rest were kept safe in NASA facilities.
Although perhaps the collection was not so good, if we take into account that in 2002 three NASA interns stole a sample and two of them spread the rocks on the bed to have the closest thing to sex on the moon they could ever have. Now that we remember this, the cockroach thing may be the second funniest story regarding rock samples from the Moon. There are situations that are difficult to overcome.
Image | Unsplash/NASA
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