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MoonFaker: Moon Rocks Revisited. Episode 6, Oxidation, Micas & Ferric Iron in Apollo Samples. PART 3

683 views · Published 14 June 2011 · 6:51 · Indexed 20 October 2026

Channel: Jarrah White · 2011 · Science & Technology

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One of the most frequent objections raised by propagandists and for that matter Wikipedia vandals is the supposed absence of oxidation in the Apollo samples. It is argued that if these samples was derived from terrestrial rocks or meteorites, their exposure to the atmosphere would have created secondary oxides and minerals.

A favorite example of such secondary materials is ferric iron oxide or rust or Fe3+, whichever you prefer to call it. Sadly for the propagandists, such ferric iron is indeed in these samples. And not simply in trace amounts. 

Schürmann & Hafner (1973) for example discovered that the ferric iron to total iron ratios of plagioclases in various Apollo basalts are the same as those for terrestrial anorthosites after being heated for two days in evacuated quartz tubes. And later in 1981, Hunter & Taylor found that a lot of the Apollo 16 rocks contain abundant rust.

The samples that contain such ferric iron include not only the rusty rocks 66095 and 67455, but also the famous sample 61016 or "Big Muley". This sample has frequently been cited by propagandists as evidence for Apollo, and yet it contains the copious amounts of ferric iron they claim is absent!

A lot of scientists are on the fence as to whether or not this rust was the result of terrestrial contamination, and even the Lunar Sample Compendium casts doubt. Possibly in an attempt to cover for this, a certain Wikipedia vandal and propagandist claims the ferric iron was caused by changes in electron energy level structure due to cosmic rays. Talk about conflicting stories and not keeping your facts straight! First they insist ferric iron should be in the lunar samples if they were exposed to earth's atmosphere, now they say it can also be created by cosmic rays. Which is it?

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