Old Apollo rocks shed new light on the moon's magnetic field long ago

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Lunar rocks collected by Apollo astronauts more than half a century ago are providing a fresh take on the moon's mysterious magnetic field, scientists reported Wednesday.

Samples to be retrieved by future moonwalkers in NASA’s new Artemis program should yield even more clues. Four Artemis astronauts are expected to fly around the moon in a crucial test flight, blasting off as early as April from Kennedy Space Center after weeks of delays.

The study by University of Oxford researchers in England suggests that while the moon’s magnetic field has been weak during most of its existence, it strengthened and even exceeded Earth’s magnetic activity during extremely brief periods 3 billion to 4 billion years ago. Their findings appear in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Magnetic fields help to shield against dangerous cosmic rays and, in the case of Earth, the sun's harsh radiation as well.

The moon had “incredibly short spikes in high magnetic field strength” lasting no more than 5,000 years and possibly as short as a few decades, the result of melting titanium-rich rocks deep within the moon, said lead author Claire Nichols.

Scientists previously theorized that the lunar magnetic field remained strong for long stretches based on their analysis of rocks fetched by Apollo moonwalkers from 1969 through 1972. With Artemis astronauts exploring the moon's south polar region instead of the low-latitude lava plains of Apollo days, the new samples should shed even more light on the moon's ancient magnetism.

Nichols and her team pored over earlier measurements of the Apollo samples and found that high titanium levels corresponded with preserved traces of high magnetic activity. Rocks from the first and last moon landings — Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 — were loaded with titanium.

“We have found a missing link,” Nichols said in an email. Magnetic field activity can be “intermittently really strong and may fluctuate far more than we have traditionally thought."

The researchers consider the Apollo samples not representative of what's found on the moon because they came from similar locales where titanium abounded, after being shoved to the surface through volcanic eruptions. Future Artemis astronauts plan to study ancient rocks near the south pole where permanently shadowed craters are thought to contain water ice.

Understanding the history of the moon's magnetic shield “is critical for thinking about planetary habitability,” Nichols said.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

NASA's Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) moon rocket with the Orion spacecraft slowly rolls back towards the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

FILE - A full moon is seen shining over NASA's SLS (Space Launch System) and Orion spacecraft, atop the mobile launcher in the early hours of Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Sam Lott/NASA via AP, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Sondra Lee, a dancer and actor discovered by the legendary choreographer-director Jerome Robbins and originated the role of Tiger Lily on Broadway in “Peter Pan” and played Minnie Fay in the original production of “Hello, Dolly!,” has died. She was 97.

Lee died Monday of natural causes in her New York City apartment, according to her friend and colleague, the Rev. Joshua Ellis, a former Broadway press agent.

After her dancing days, Lee taught at Stella Adler’s Conservatory and New York University. She also was a consultant to such films as “Places in the Heart” with Sally Field, “The Last of the Mohicans” with Daniel Day-Lewis and “The Morning After” starring Jane Fonda, Jeff Bridges and Raul Julia.

In her 2009 memoir, “I’ve Slept With Everybody,” she recounted meeting Robbins at the Shubert Theatre. She had just missed his audition for “High Button Shoes” and did not know who he was.

“Oh,” she told him. “I just auditioned for ‘Allegro’ and they found I was too short so they let me go. So I'm going home to commit suicide.” Robbins replied: “Don't go home and commit suicide, come over here and dance for me.” She did and got the job, actually two comic roles in the show.

Robbins would become her champion and also gave her a nickname: “Peanuts,” from the Charles Shulz cartoon strip. “I had been given a gift and I ran with it,” she writes.

Other career highlights included supporting Bert Lahr and Angela Lansbury on Broadway in the farce “Hotel Paradiso,” a role in the Robert Redford-led “Sunday in New York” on Broadway and an uncredited turn in Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita.”

Lee originated the role of Tiger Lily in the 1954 Broadway production of “Peter Pan” — as well as playing the part in the 1955, 1956 and 1960 TV broadcasts of “Peter Pan” — working alongside Mary Martin.

In 1964, she began the longest run of her career. The director Gower Champion asked her to play Minnie Fay in the original production of “Hello, Dolly!” with Carol Channing. She would stay with the show for years and also tour with it from 1965-68.

Lee’s last public appearance was at Carnegie Hall in 2025 as part of the Transport Group’s concert performance of “Hello, Dolly!” She received a prolonged standing ovation.

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Charles Schulz’s last name.

FILE - Sondra Lee, a cast member for the Broadway show "Hello Dolly1" appears backstage at the St. James Theater in New York on Oct. 14, 1964. (AP Photo/Harvey Lippman, File)