Preliminary results of determinations of physical properties of microfragments of lunar rocks from soil returned by Luna-16 and Luna-20 stations

A number of Luna vehicles returned with samples of lunar soil (basalts, anorthosites, breccias, slags, glass). Special methods were required for working with microfragments measuring a fraction of a millimeter. The tested particles were selected in the Comparatice Planetology Laboratory, Geochemical and Analytical Chemistry Institute. They include: two samples of melanoratic basalts, two samples of anorthositic gray rock, breccia, four types of glass from mare and continental regions, one light-colored breccia, one dark gray porous slag particle, three grains of rock-forming minerals (pyroxene with numerous inclusions, light-yellow olivine of irregular configuration and a transparent grain of plagioclase. The following parameters were determined: density, longitudinal elastic modulus, heat capacity, compressive strength, Young modulus. All these determinations are tabulated. The results of these tests of microsamples of lunar rocks agree with determinations made in the United States with macrosamples and also with averaged indices of properties for similar terrestrial rocks. The collected data can be useful for interpreting lunar geophysical data.