From infinity and beyond, science teacher Michael Lanham brought a selection of moon rocks from NASA.
“I’ve always loved space stuff,” Lanham said, and it was his love for things out-of-this-world that has given students the opportunity to see some “priceless” artifacts.
These rocks, which were retrieved all the way from Apollo 16 and 17, contain interesting markings.
The three of most significance are the iron meteorite, the orange soil and the anorthosite.
The iron meteorite contains lines on it that were formed as the solar system was forming, Lanham said.
“These patterns are older than the earth,” Lanham said.
The orange soil from Apollo 17 contains pieces of volcanic glass that gave it its orange color.
The anorthosite has micro craters on it, or “glass that was splashed onto it by a nearby asteroid,” to be more specific, Lanham said.
Lanham said that he had to get security certified to get ahold of this “national treasure,” he said. Something not to be messed with, as many people are being held in federal prison for attempting to steal these moon rocks.
These rocks aren’t only of interest to criminals and science teachers, but also students as well.
On October 30, Mr. Lanham was in the media center with the rocks on display. He was there all school day and held presentations for a few classes all throughout.
“A handful of students came in to look at them, but probably not as much as he would’ve liked,” said Media Center Professional Laura Morgan.
Before Lanham presented the rocks in the media center, he took the time to give some of his classes a preview.
Sophomore Bryce Lyon shared some of his interest of the rocks and said, “They were cool, nothing of the ordinary.”
Lyon said he enjoyed hearing more of the background of the rocks.
