Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility

Planning for handling returned lunar samples began early in the Apollo program. In 1964, a proposal was made for a small () sample receiving laboratory equipped with remote-controlled manipulators operating in a sterile, high-vacuum chamber to prepare samples for distribution to scientists, and this proposal was subsequently expanded to include a clean room with analytical instruments for performing preliminary analyses on the samples. A committee of the Space Science Board reviewed the idea of a lunar sample receiving laboratory and sought to address multiple concerns. One was the fear that creating a facility with too great a capacity to analyze the samples would discourage distribution of samples to outside researchers and effectively exclude them. (although many of the astronauts and scientists involved in the program were skeptical that non-terrestrial microorganisms could survive lunar conditions). To address these issues, the committee in 1965 recommended a laboratory with limited analytical capacity and an ability to quarantine the returning astronauts and samples. To address some of these concerns, NASA dropped the requirement after Apollo 12 that samples be processed in vacuum (in favor of a simpler-to-work-in nitrogen atmosphere). An additional vault and, subsequently, a new laboratory – the Sample Storage and Processing Laboratory (SSPL) – were built in Building 31 of the Johnson Space Center. All lunar samples were moved from the LRL to Building 31 after the last Apollo mission With a selection of the lunar samples secured offsite, construction began on the LSLF, with state-of-the-art facilities for handling the samples and better protection against natural disasters. The LSLF was constructed in a new annex of Building 31 (Building 31N at the Johnson Space Center) beginning in 1977. Built for a cost of $2.5 million, the building was dedicated on July 20, 1979, the tenth anniversary of the first human Moon landing. ==Features==

The two-story, facility consists of storage vaults for the samples, laboratories for sample preparation and study, a vault for sample data and records, and machinery to supply nitrogen to the cabinets in which the samples are stored and processed. The facility's storage vaults are elevated above anticipated storm-surge sea level heights to protect the samples from threats posed by hurricanes and tornadoes. During hurricane threats, a water-tight door is bolted into the frame of the door to the pristine sample vault in order to protect the samples. The facility takes extensive measures to prevent contamination of the lunar samples. For example: • All materials used in constructing and equipping the building (including floor coverings, walls, plumbing, light fixtures, and paint) were carefully screened to exclude chemical elements that would pose unacceptable contamination threats to the lunar samples. • Air in the facility is filtered to remove all suspended particles, and the air in the laboratories and vaults is maintained at slightly higher than atmospheric pressure to keep unfiltered air from entering. The particulate concentration of the air in the various areas is monitored regularly. • People entering laboratories and vaults are required to don cleanroom suits. • Most samples are not handled directly. Researchers prepare samples in stainless steel cabinets through multi-layered gloves. The atmosphere in these cabinets is purged by high-purity nitrogen that is continuously monitored for oxygen and moisture contents. When research requires that a sample be exposed to contamination, the sample is kept separate from pristine samples after its return. • To avoid cross-contamination of samples from different places on the Moon, samples from different missions are not processed together in the same cabinet, but one or more cabinets are designated for processing samples from a particular mission. When cabinets become dusty from extensive processing or are needed for processing samples from a different mission, they are cleaned using ultra-pure water. The facility has room to store many more lunar samples. NASA anticipates that more samples from the Moon will be brought back and processed and curated in the lab. ==Samples stored at facility and other lunar samples==

The facility is the chief repository of the samples returned by the Apollo program. Also at the facility is the sample known as Big Muley, the largest sample returned from the Moon by Apollo. of the of lunar samples returned by the Apollo program are stored at the White Sands Test Facility. In addition to the lunar samples returned by the Apollo missions, of lunar samples were returned to Earth by three automated Soviet spacecraft, Luna 16, Luna 20, and Luna 24. ==Access to facility and samples==

Approximately 100 people visit the facility annually for research or educational purposes, and the facility provides samples to hundreds of others each year for research or educational purposes. Researchers seeking samples submit proposals, which are evaluated by an independent peer review panel. 40 to 50 such proposals are approved each year and approximately 400 lunar samples (most weighing less than one gram) are sent to these scientists. ==See also==