Word: xenon
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...solar wind, heated a pinch of moon dust to 3,000° F. Analyzing the escaping gases, he found that the lunar surface had absorbed considerable helium and hydrogen from the sun. But he also noted surprisingly large amounts of such rare gases as argon, neon, krypton and xenon, which suggested that the moon may prove a promising solar observatory. At California's Lick Observatory, astronomers were finally able to get a reading on the distance between earth and moon. Using the reflector left behind by the astronauts, the Lick astronomers calculated that their distance from Tranquillity Base...
...only two hours or so. Soon after emerging from Eagle, they will place on the lunar surface a sheet of aluminum foil suspended from a stand. It will be exposed to the constant stream of particles expelled by the sun and should trap rare gases such as argon, krypton, xenon, neon and helium. Returned to earth in a vacuum box, the captive gases will be analyzed to give scientists new insights into the sun and the "wind" that it blows through the solar system...
...industry extracts various gases whose temperatures are close to absolute zero ( - 460° F.). It has thus created a spectrum of uses for rare gases whose inertness, heavy atomic weights and unique electrical properties make them invaluable servants: argon for welding, krypton for long-lasting light bulbs, and xenon for high-intensity lights such as those used at airports. Even the more common gases are moving into new fields. In the next few months a big food processor will announce that it is flash-freezing fruits and vegetables with liquid nitrogen, which locks in that on-the-vine flavor. Last...
...stony Bruderheim meteorite that fell in Canada in 1960. He crushed it carefully and separated 14 chondrules from the debris. Then he ground the remainder and purified a sample of meteor material until it was free of chondrule fragments. He heated both samples separately and measured the amount of xenon gas that was driven out of them. The chondrules, he found, contained considerably more xenon 129 than the rest of the meteor...
...Xenon 129 is a rare xenon isotope that is the descendant of iodine 129, a radioactive form of iodine that was created with the rest of the elements that formed the solar nebula and became extinct not many million years later. Since chondrules contain xenon 129, Merrihue argues that they must have acquired it from the decay of iodine 129. This means that they condensed as droplets during the infancy of the solar system, when everything else in the nebula was dust or gas-and they must be older than the earth...