Lunar Sample Atlas: Apollo Thin Sections

Lunar Sample 15040

Mission	Apollo 15
Sample Type	soil-general
Location	At Station 8; taken from the top of the trench.
Description	At Station 8 Astronaut Irwin dug the deep trench; samples 15040 through 15044 were taken from the tope of the trench. The trench area is similar to the area near the ALSEP, a smooth, hummocky surface of fine grained material with rare, cobble sized fragments not visibly related to any particular crater. The trench wall was described by the astronauts as uniform, with perhaps a slight color darkening in the middle part, above a hard layer which was not penetrated, but just reached at a depth of about 35 cm. One small fresh crater occurs a few meters north of the trench, but it is too distant to add a significant layer of ejecta to the top of the trench area.