Forty-five years ago today, the Apollo 11 astronauts launched toward the moon.
Lunar samples returned by Apollo Flight 11 (as well as 12-17) provided scientists with an opportunity to examine extraterrestrial material for clues to the chemical origin of life. NASA, the National Academy of Science, and the scientists from the University of Missouri and the University of Maryland, studied samples returned from the moon. They were looking for the presence of amino acids and previous life forms. The scientists showed that chemical evolution of "life molecules" had not occurred on the surface of the moon.
Among the few chosen to analyze the moon rocks was a scientist named Charles Gehrke, who would go on to become the founder of ABC Laboratories.
Click here to see more photos of Dr. Charles W. Gehrke and his colleagues analyzing the moon rocks in 1969.
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