Strange Orange Soil on the Moon . ... Credit Copyright: Apollo 17 Crew , NASA Explanation: How did orange soil appear on the Moon? This mystery began when astronaut Harrison Schmidt noticed the off-color patch near Apollo 17 's Taurus-Littrow landing site in 1972. Schmidt and fellow astronaut Eugene Cernan scooped up some of the unusual orange soil for detailed inspection back on Earth. ... Lunar geologists now think that the orange soil was created during an ancient fire-fountain . ...