Not only is there no life or indication of former life on the moon, but the essential ingredients to produce or sustain life as we know it are also absent. The presence of unoxidized iron on the moon-totally absent on earth-indicates that the moon has had negligible amounts of free oxygen if any at all. The analyses of the lunar rocks gives a concentration of carbon of 30 to 300 parts per million yhile earth rocks normally contain 100 times that much carbon.

Most of the lunar carbon appears to be in the form of gas bubbles-mostly carbon monoxide-inside the tiny glass beads. The samples also contain some methane and ethane-simple saturated hydrocarbons-which might be native to the moon. More complex hydrocarbons are concentrated in earth rocks at about 100 parts per million but were undetectable in the lunar rocks to an accuracy of one part per billion.

The existence of other more complex organic compounds such as amino acids-the basic building blocks of proteins-and porphyrins-related to hemoglobin, chlorophyll and some vitamins-is still open to debate. If these compounds exist, they are extremely rare and difficult to detect. This means contamination by terrestrial compounds is a real problem. Such contamination could occur if the sample containers leak, if the chemicals used in the test techniques are not absolutely pure, or if the rocket fuel burning produced complex organic contaminants.

According to Barghoorn, most researchers agree that amino acids are probably absent but that the story of porphyrins is still very unclear.

Compared to meteorites which have been analyzed, the moon is extremely lifeless. Some meteorites have as much as five per cent carbon (more than 200 times the moon quantity) and one-the Murchison meteorite which fell in Australia in 1967-contains substantial amounts of amino acids-some of which are biologically active. However, none of these carbonaceous meteorites show any indications of living organisms.

While a select few examine the lunar samples every day, thousands of other people stand in line for hours to get a glimpse of the rocks. Surrounded by other relics of the U. S. space program, guarded more carefully than the Mona Lisa, these small pieces of the moon sitting in their glass case draw crowds throughout the world. The moon samples are probably some of the most uninteresting looking objects ever to attract such attention. They are not strangely shaped or beautifully colored. They are just dull dark rocks which reveal secrets only to the experts. Indeed, there is little assurance that the rocks in the glass case actually came from the moon. Next time you trip over a dark piece of rock, smile knowingly.