Intro music.
NASA's Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility is home to the most cherished -- and scientifically important --
relics of the Apollo program.
Now, the laboratory facility at Johnson Space Center in Houston is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
After two years of construction, officials dedicated the facility on July 20, 1979 --
the ten-year anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing.
Twelve NASA astronauts visited the Moon's dusty surface during six Apollo missions.
They returned with a total of 842 pounds of lunar material, including rocks, core samples, pebbles, even sand and dust.
NASA needed a permanent storage facility to protect the samples from floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and contaminants.
These extra precautions would keep these priceless samples in pristine condition.
From these special needs, the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility was born.
Today, 35 years after the first lunar landing, the samples continue to attract scientists' attention.