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For the first time in school history, ASU has its very own golf-ball sized moon rock sample to study and put on display.The moon rock arrived at ASU as part of the School of Earth and Space Exploration’s 14th annual Earth and Space Exploration Day held at the Bateman Physical Sciences building on the Tempe campus.
Though the event is meant for everyone, the celebration focuses on drawing in young children and helping to foster their interest in Earth and space science.
Terry Moorhagen of Tempe was present at the fair with her two children, Kira and Lars.
“I actually didn’t remember that they were having the exhibits again this year,” Terry Moorhagen said. “My son asked me about it a few week’s ago. He remembered everything about it from coming here last year.”
The event has expanded over the last 10 years while under the leadership of Thomas Sharp, ASU’s associate director of the NASA Arizona Space Grant Consortium.
“When we think about future scientists, we really need to make sure we are attracting kids and getting them interested,” Sharp said. “In a sense, we are extending the workforce pipeline down to high school, junior high and grade school.”
Attendees of the fair usually number around 1,000 people, however, this year’s events saw more than 1,500 students, teachers, parents and children join in the fun.
Earth and Space Exploration day is quickly becoming a hallmark event of SESE. More than a dozen displays staffed by scientists provided a spectrum of interactive activities for excited participants both young and old.
The exhibit that received the highest level of attention was the much anticipated unveiling of the moon rock sample. The sample is on a long-term loan to ASU from NASA. The sample itself weighs 77 grams or about 2.7 ounces. The moon rock sample is on display at the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera located in the Interdisciplinary A building.
LROC faculty research associate Samuel Lawrence spoke about the acquisition of the moon rock. Afterwards, he took questions from the gathered crowd.
“This piece is classified as a basalt rock,” Lawrence said. “It’s a great honor to have it here. Usually moon rock samples are divided up and given to museums or institutions that merit more people traffic. This is the first moon rock to arrive at ASU, so it’s quite an accomplishment that we were able to get this little guy.”
Reach the reporter at mjgordo1@asu.edu
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