Of the twelve people who walked on the Moon, exactly one was a scientist: Harrison Schmitt, a geologist, on the last flight.

Every other moonwalker was a test pilot, trained in field geology for the job. Schmitt was added to Apollo 17 after the scientific community objected to the programme ending without one, and he promptly found the orange soil at Shorty crater — volcanic glass beads three and a half billion years old, and one of the most important samples brought back.