The Apollo 17 mission, which took place in December 1972, made a significant contribution to lunar science by collecting many specification lunar samples, which scientists used to more accurately determine the Moon’s true age. The rocks collected were determined to be between 3.9 and 4.4 billion years old, confirming the accepted theory that the Moon formed from the same materials as Earth did. The samples were also used to study the diversity of lunar meteorite impacts.
