A Cheap Date

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Synopsis: A teleoperated robotic rover retrieves a sample from an outcrop on the Moon. Determining the formation age of such rocks is an important scientific goal (artwork by Pat Rawlings) Returning samples to Earth for analysis is one of planetary sciences’ holiest of grails. Although many different, complex measurements on returned samples are possible, one of the most important ones – from the standpoint of geologic study – is to determine the age of a rock. Ages are determined by obtaining precision measurements of the amounts of different isotopes of certain elements (some of which are radioactive [...]