On this day in 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took the first steps on the moon’s surface, collecting lunar rocks and bringing them back to Earth. The samples they gathered still inform research today, including the research of Miki Nakajima, an assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Rochester.

Nakajima studies the formation and evolution of the Earth, the moon, and other planetary bodies in the solar and extrasolar systems. Here, she reflects on the anniversary of the moon landing and how the Apollo missions have affected her work:

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