Thus, if there were an emergency and they had to leave quickly, there would be at least one lunar sample.

ECONOMIST: The race to the moon

That will be followed by deployment of an unmanned lunar orbiter mission along with a nuclear-powered landing vehicle to support lunar rover delivery and sample return operations.

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Three days later when the first men to reach another world arrived, their initial act, within moments of setting foot there, was to document and collect a precious sample of lunar dust, to share with laboratories across the Earth.

BBC: The magic of Apollo