Misplaced Pages

The Apollo 11 lunar sample display is a commemorative podium style plaque display consisting of four dust particle specimens (dubbed "Moon rocks"), the recipient's flag and two small metal plates attached with descriptive messages. The Apollo 11 plaques were given as gifts in 1970 by President Richard Nixon to 135 countries, the 50 states of the United States and its territories, and the United Nations.

History and description

At the request of Nixon, NASA had about 250 presentation plaques made following Apollo 11 in 1969. Each included about four rice-sized particles of Moon dust from the mission totaling about 50 mg. The Apollo 11 lunar sample display has an acrylic plastic button containing the Moon dust mounted with the recipient's country or state flag that had been to the Moon and back. All 135 countries received the display, as did the 50 states of the United States and the U.S. provinces and the United Nations.

The plaques were given as gifts by Nixon in 1970. With the exception of Venezuela, whose actual flag was not flown to the Moon on Apollo 11, the wording on the plaque (with the appropriate name filled in) was:

"Presented to the people of _____ by Richard Nixon, President of the United States of America.

"This flag of your state was carried to the Moon and back by Apollo 11 and this fragment of the Moon's surface was brought to Earth by the crew of that first manned lunar landing."

Fate

The New York Times reported in 2012 that gifts of moon rocks were not well tracked or managed by NASA. Within the US, public gifts require legislation to be transferred, but other nations set their own laws. Some samples of lunar dust soil from the Apollo 11 and lunar basalt 70017 from the later Apollo 17 missions have been reported missing. Since 2005 entities and people have made concerted efforts to find the displays. Joseph Gutheinz, a former NASA Office of Inspector General special agent and a professor who teaches an online course at the University of Phoenix, had his students try to locate the displays. Robert Pearlman of collectSPACE has also tracked the displays.

See also

• Apollo 17 lunar sample display
• List of Apollo lunar sample displays

References

1. ^ Pearlman, Robert. "Where today are the Apollo 11 goodwill lunar sample displays?". CollectSPACE. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
2. "Tales of lunar rocks through the years". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Associated Press. 2012-05-23. Archived from the original on 2023-02-06. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
3. Fernandez, Manny (January 21, 2012). "NASA Searches for Loot That Traveled From Space to Another Void". The New York Times. Houston, Texas. Retrieved November 3, 2012.
4. ^ Pearlman, Robert. "Where today are the Apollo 17 goodwill lunar sample displays". CollectSPACE. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
5. "Houston lawyer on quest for missing moon rocks". Buffalo, Texas. Associated Press. May 14, 2012. Retrieved November 3, 2012 – via Fox News.
6. "Customs agents seize 4 billion year old moon rock". cnn.com. CNN. December 7, 1998. Archived from the original on September 17, 2000. Retrieved November 3, 2012.
7. Hennessy-Fiske, Molly (February 7, 2012). "Finding lost moon rocks is his mission". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 3, 2012.
8. "One man's quest to find missing moon rocks". Detroit Free Press. Buffalo, Texas. 2012-05-14. Retrieved November 3, 2012.
9. Silvey, Janese (July 8, 2010). "Moon rock discovery a false alarm: Apollo 17 keepsake still missing after all". Columbia Daily Tribune. Archived from the original on March 21, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2012.

v t e Apollo program
List of missions canceled missions List of Apollo astronauts
Launch complexes	Launch Complex 34 Launch Complex 37 Launch Complex 39 A B
Ground facilities	Mission Control Center Cape Kennedy Air Force Station Crawler-transporter Kennedy Space Center Manned Space Flight Network
Launch vehicles	Little Joe II Saturn Saturn I Saturn IB Saturn V
Spacecraft and rover	Apollo spacecraft Command and Service Module Lunar Module Lunar Roving Vehicle
Flights	Uncrewed AS-101 AS-102 AS-201 AS-202 Apollo 4 Apollo 5 Apollo 6 Crewed Apollo 1 Apollo 7 Apollo 8 Apollo 9 Apollo 10 Apollo 11 Apollo 12 Apollo 13 Apollo 14 Apollo 15 Apollo 16 Apollo 17 Saturn development Saturn-Apollo 1 SA-2 SA-3 SA-4 SA-5 AS-203 Apollo 4 Apollo 6 Abort tests QTV Pad Abort Test-1 A-001 A-002 A-003 Pad Abort Test-2 A-004 Pegasus flights AS-103 AS-104 AS-105
Apollo 8 specific	Earthrise Genesis reading
Apollo 11 specific	Command Module Columbia Lunar Module Eagle Tranquility Base Double crater Little West crater Goodwill messages Lunar sample displays Missing tapes Anniversaries 50th Anniversary commemorative coins In popular culture
Apollo 12 specific	Statio Cognitum Surveyor 3 Surveyor crater Bench Crater meteorite J002E3 Moon Museum Reports of Streptococcus mitis on the Moon
Apollo 13 specific	"Houston, we've had a problem"
Apollo 14 specific	Modular Equipment Transporter Fra Mauro formation Big Bertha Moon tree
Apollo 15 specific	Journey Lunar operations Solo operations Return to Earth Hadley–Apennine Fallen Astronaut Genesis Rock Great Scott Hadley Rille meteorite Seatbelt basalt Postal covers incident
Apollo 16 specific	Big Muley
Apollo 17 specific	The Blue Marble Taurus–Littrow Tracy's Rock Nansen-Apollo crater Shorty crater Lunar sample display Lunar basalt 70017 Troctolite 76535 Apollo Lunar Sounder Experiment Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum, and Phooey
Post-Apollo capsule use	Skylab 2 3 4 Apollo–Soyuz
Related	Lunar orbit rendezvous Stolen and missing Moon rocks Third-party evidence for Apollo Moon landings
Symbol indicates failure or partial failure

v t e Moon
Outline
Physical properties	Internal structure Topography Atmosphere Gravity field Hill sphere Magnetic field Sodium tail Moonlight Earthshine
Orbit	Lunar distance Orbital elements Distance Perigee and apogee Libration Nodes Nodal period Precession Syzygy New moon Full moon Eclipses Lunar eclipse Total penumbral lunar eclipse Tetrad Solar eclipse Solar eclipses on the Moon Eclipse cycle Supermoon Tide Tidal force Tidal locking Tidal acceleration Tidal range Lunar station
Surface and features	Selenography Terminator Limb Hemispheres Near side Far side Poles North pole South pole Face Maria List Mountains Peak of eternal light Valleys Volcanic features Domes Calderas Lava tubes Craters List Ray systems Permanently shadowed craters South Pole–Aitken basin Soil swirls Rilles Wrinkle ridges Rocks Lunar basalt 70017 Changesite-(Y) Water Space weathering Micrometeorite Sputtering Quakes Transient lunar phenomenon Selenographic coordinate system
Science	Observation Libration Lunar theory Origin Giant-impact hypothesis Theia Lunar magma ocean Geology Timescale Late Heavy Bombardment Lunar meteorites KREEP Volcanism Experiments Lunar laser ranging ALSEP Lunar sample displays Apollo 11 Apollo 17 Lunar seismology
Exploration	Missions Apollo program Explorers Probes Landing Colonization Moonbase Tourism Lunar resources
Time-telling and navigation	Lunar calendar Lunisolar calendar Month Lunar month Nodal period Fortnight Sennight Lunar station Lunar distance
Phases and names	New Full Names Crescent Super and micro Blood Blue Black Dark Wet Tetrad
Daily phenomena	Moonrise Meridian passage Moonset
Related	Lunar deities Lunar effect Earth phase Moon illusion Pareidolia Man in the Moon Moon rabbit Craters named after people Artificial objects on the Moon Memorials on the Moon Moon in science fiction list Apollo era futuristic exploration Hollow Moon Moon landing conspiracy theories Moon Treaty "Moon is made of green cheese" Natural satellite Double planet Lilith (hypothetical second moon) Splitting of the Moon
Category

• Apollo program lunar sample displays
• Apollo 11
• Lunar samples
• Foreign relations of the United States