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Samples from Space

Samples from Space
Samples from Space Scientists have applied a wide range of techniques to analyzing extraterrestrial materials. This microscopic photograph (a little over one millimeter across the field of view) of a lunar basalt was made by shining polarized light through a wafer of rock (30 micrometers thick). The shapes and sizes of the minerals indicate that the rock crystallized in a lava flow. Pyroxene appears as orange and blue; the gray is feldspar. Courtesy of G. Jeffrey Taylor