WHERE ARE THE MOONROCKS?
----------------------
John Pazmino
NYSkies Astronomy Inc
nyskies@nyskies.org
www.nyskies.org
2009 December 13 initial
2009 December 18 current
Introduction
----------
Year 2009 is the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 flight, landing
on the Moon on July 20th of 1969. Many astronomy centers and musea
held worthy Apollo shows. NYSkies, as example, convened the only
public Apollo remembrance session 'Remembering Apollo' in July.
Separately from the Apollo events, there was a walking tour of
Manhattan's astronomy points of interest on 2009 November 22. It was
hosted by Amateur Observers Society, Long island. Occasionally it
brings its astronomers to the City to inspect and discuss places with
an astronomy theme, as inspired by a special 2002 issue of Natural
History magazine titled 'City of stars'.
One of the stops on this tour is the United Nations headquarters,
which has a Foucault pendulum, a Sputnik-1 satellite, and an Apollo
moonrock.
The Sputnik was routinely described by UN tour guides as the shell
for a backup or second satellite with no guts inside. It in actuality
is a replica of Sputnik, like the one exhibited for the movie 'Sputnik
Mania' in 2007.
The moonrock, once in a glass display case in the visitor lobby,
was out of sight for the last several years.
AOS made inquiries. At first the response from the UN was that the
rock was being fixed up in some unspecified way. After a couple more
years the reply was a ignorant 'What moonrock?'
Linda Prince, AOS, and I, NYSkies, were deeply puzzled that so
rare and precious an exhibit can go astray. After our inquiries at
both UN and NASA, Ms Prince got the reply on 2009 December 7 that the
rock is in storage because its glass display case was cracked. No one
at the UN seemed to know how this happened but the rock was removed
for safekeeping and is still in the UN premises. It is not certain if
the display case will be repaired and the rock returned to exhibit.
As I was asking around about the UN rock, some readers told me of
other instances of missing moonrocks. At first I figured these were
unusual and were in some way duly investigated and solved.
Wrong.
Brief history
-----------
After the first and final Apollo flights, the United States gave to
other nations and US states a sample moonrock. The idea was that they
were gifts to the whole people of the countries and states and that
they would be accessible to the people in a safe and secure manner.
Typicly this was a public display in a major museum.
The Apollo 11 rocks were distributed in 1970; Apollo 17, 1973.
Most countries and states got one from each flight. The rocks were
pure gifts with no attachments or conditions. Each recipient handled
the gift according to its own treatment of treasures and works of art.
The Apollo 11 stones were a set of 4 grains of 50mg size set in
Lucite on a wood plague. The plaque also had a small nylon flag of the
recipient that was on board the Apollo 11 flight. Many were presented
during the 'Giant step Apollo 11' tour by the astronauts to the heads
of state, or their delegate. The rest were delivered after the tour,
which could visit only a selection of all the countries of the world.
The grains came from the pool of material returned by the flight.
The Apollo 17 stones were slivered off of a particular rock
returned by the Apollo 17 crew, specimen #70017. Astronaut Harrison
Schmitt, via television from the Moon, wished that it be distributed
in good will to all the people of the world. These stones, a single
piece of about 1 gram size, are sometimes called 'Goodwill moon
rocks'. They were mounted similarly to the Apollo 11 stones, under
Lucite on a wood plaque. The affixed flag for each recipient was on
the flight.
Altho there was no stipulation for making the rocks constructively
accessible it was assumed that they would be put in some honored place
for public viewing. As can be supposed, many recipients just do not
have a mature sense of handling such artifacts.
As far as I could determine, NASA did not offer to the recipients
any guidance, advice, instructions, assistance for curating the rocks.
Once handed to an appropriate delegate from the recipient, the rock's
fate was in the hands, litterally, of that recipient.
NASA still hands out moonrocks to honor particular people, mostly
astronauts and space scientists. These are the 'Ambassador of
exploration' moonrocks that, unlike the national and state gifts,
are NASA property, fully accounted. NASA no longer, since the Apollo
11 and Apollo 17 gifts, actually gives away any moonrocks.
Moonrocks at sale
---------------
Overwhelmingly a moonrock advertised for sale is a fake, with
intent to cheat the buyer. Sales are made thru print and Internet
media. Often their provenance is undisclosed or fabricated. Because it
is easy to hide the ultimate identity of the seller, a buyer who later
finds his rock is a phony moonrock has no easy or direct recourse.
A genuine moonrock comes onto the market from time to time, often
chipped off of a larger piece like many meteorites are. However,
unless the buyer has some expert guidance in assaying the rock or
verifying its provenance, there is no telling what the rock is. Very
few buyers ever saw a real moonrock, like in a museum, and will not
recognize a fake on sight.
An other genuine moonrock can be an earthly meteorite that is
traced back to the Moon. The origin is revealed by the stone's
chemical and physical match with conditions on the Moon. Because thee
is a trickle of new finds of such meteorites, the supply is slowly
replenished, giving a person a reasonable chance to own a sample.
Other earthly meteorites come from Mars, asteroid Vesta, and
asteroid 2008-TC3. I myself have a set of three such meteorites, from
Moon, Mars, Vesta. 2008--TC3 didn't fall when I got this set. They and
are mounted on a caption card in award-pin boxes.
When I first showed them around, people tried to open the boxes!
Well, they WERE boxes with [thankfuly glued] press on lids. I then
placed the three boxes adjacently and wrapped them along the sides
with masking tape. The tape concealed the lids and made a handy large
single unit to show.
A third real moonrock, in truly tiny grains, comes from the 300ish
grams returned by Soviet landers of the Luna series.
Many 'Giant step' and 'Goodwill' recipients simply did not have
the competence to safeguard their gifts. Some may be stolen by a theft
or simple taken home by past official of the recipient.
It is the buyer who must beware such offered moonrocks. It is
possible that these real pieces come from the 'Giant step' or
'Goodwill' samples that went missing over the decades. If the stone is
recovered, typicly from a crime investigation, and examined, its
origin from one of the gift rocks can be easily determined.
For a serious doubt, it is wise to report the offer, with full
particulars, to the NASA inspector general and the local office of the
FBI. For other countries, apply at the US embassy or consulate for
advice.
NASA when alerted to a possible offering of a real moonrock,
investigates and sometimes takes legal action. However, of the moon
rocks in the lists below, a missing one is never seen ever again.
Because of their rarity and lack of refreshed supply any time
soon, prices for an Apollo or Luna moonrock, actually a chip or grain,
is hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. Chips from lunar
meteorites are far less pricey, in the tens or hundreds of dollars.
NASA concern
----------
For the gift rocks to states and countries and individuals, NASA
has no jurisdiction except as they are reported as part of a crime.
Then it reacts with an investigation and hopeful return of the
specimen to the original recipient, or last legitimate title holder.
For moonrocks on loan for exhibits, NASA seems awfully
inconsistent. In some cases it mandates strict coverage of the stone
in all its movements and display, supervision, alarms, protection, and
so on. In other cases, it seems very lax with only casual reminders
about handling. NASA also seems to be loose with shipping an exhibit
stone, sometimes using regular postal service mail rather than traced
delivery.
In my personal experience I saw a display of moonrocks from a NASA
traveling exhibit at an astronomy conference. This was in the 1980s,
so details are eroded. The stones were tiny pebbles set in a dinner-
dish dome. It was carried about casually by the NASA crew and allowed
to be handled by visitors. It seemed entirely feasible to palm the
dome and play dumb. A person probably could have dropped it into a
tote bag and walked away.
Samples given for scientific study seem to be more carefully
chronicled and documented. I hear of the paperwork being on the order
of that for radiological samples.
Moonrock news
-----------
With the Apollo anniversary and International Year of Astronomy,
news about moonrocks spiked in 2009. An other ignitive spark was the
Rijksmusem, Amsterdam, Holland, moonrock incident. In August 2009 the
museum reported that a moonrock on display was really a hunk of
petrified wood! It was given by the US ambassador to Holland during a
visit by astronaut Neil Armstrong. it is possible that the museum
associated the rock with the astronaut as coming from the Moon.
This story called into question how musea keep track of their
moonrocks. The mistaken stone in the Rijksmuseum was properly cared
for. However, the inquiry arose: Where are the 'Giant step' and
'Goodwill' rocks?
In summer and fall of 2009 several news pieces described efforts
to learn the fate of these rocks in US states and overseas. Some
leaded to successful recovery. Others so far end in dead leads.
I do not try to summarize the account of these stones, there being
good coverage in the news media. I'll not addiurnate this article
regularly. This ia a snapshot status report as at November 2009.
Inventory of moonrocks
--------------------
These tables and text below are adapted from collectSPACE, who has
the project of tracking down to a definite fate each of the 'Giant
step' and 'Goodwill' moonrocks. It has authoritative material on other
space-related artifacts at 'www.collectspace.com'.
A blank entry for a country or state means only that the stone is
unaccounted. It is not a statement that the stone is actually stolen
or lost. It could be a matter of misplaced records, faded memory,
loosely managed relocation, on exhibit in a lesser-known museum.
For the Goodwill stones, a couple numbered specimina were not
given out. They remain in NASA's collection.
Giant step moonrocks
-------------------
In November 1969 US President Richard Nixon requested that NASA
create approximately 250 displays containing lunar surface material
and the flags of 135 nations, US possessions, and [US] states.
Each presentation included 0.05 grams of Apollo 11 moon dust, in
the form of four small pieces encased in an acrylic button, as well as
the flag of the recipient nation or state, also flown on the first
manned lunar landing mission.
The displays that were presented to foreign heads of state
included the inscription:
'Presented to the People of [country] by Richard Nixon, President
of the United States of America.
'This Flag of Your Nation 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.'
(With exception to the plaque for Venezuela: it was discovered
that the nation's flag was not flown aboard the Apollo 11 spacecraft.
Instead, a flag carried on Apollo 12 was used with the wording: "This
flag of your nation was carried to the moon and back, and this
fragment of the moon's surface was brought to Earth by the crew of the
first manned lunar landing.")
Once gifted, each of the goodwill moon rock samples became the
property of the recipient and was no longer subject to being tracked
by NASA. All other lunar sample locations are well documented by the
US space agency to this day (with exception to similarly gifted Apollo
17 lunar sample displays).
As property of the nation or state, the [Giant Step] rocks are now
subject to the laws for public gifts as set by that country [or
state]. In most cases, as in the United States, public gifts cannot be
legally transferred to individual ownership without the passage of
additional legislation.
Since 2005, collectSPACE has attempted to locate the current
whereabouts of all the Apollo 11 lunar sample displays. The following
chart details those efforts [as at mid November 2009].
Special gratitude is extended to former NASA Office of Inspector
General special agent Joseph Gutheinz, who today as a professor at the
University of Phoenix, Arizona, has challenged his students to locate
the displays.
Do you know the current status of an Apollo 11 display? Write us
at moonrocks@collectspace.com
Nation/State Location/Status
------------------ ---------------
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Andorra
Argentina
Australia National Archives of Australia, "Memory of a
Nation" exhibit, Canberra
Austria Technisches Museum Wien (Vienna)
Barbados
Belgium Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences,
Brussels
Bhutan
Bolivia
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burma
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Central African Republic
Ceylon (Sri Lanka) Natural History Museum, Colombo
Chad
Chile Frei Montalva's Historic House Museum, Santiago
China
Colombia
Congo (Brazzaville)
Congo (Kinshasa)
Costa Rica Museo Nacional de Costa Rica, San Jose (in
storage)
Cuba
Cyprus
Czechoslovakia Vojensky historicky£stav (Military History
Institute), Prague
Dahomey
Denmark
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Ethiopia
Finland
France Mus‚um d'histoire naturelle, Nantes
Gabon
Gambia
Germany Naturmuseum Senckenberg, Frankfurt
Ghana
Greece
Guatemala
Guinea
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland Accidentally discarded after an Oct. 3, 1977 fire
destroyed the Meridian room at Dunsink Observatory, Dublin, where it
had been on display. Now among the rubble at the Finglas landfill
(dump)
Israel
Italy
Ivory Coast
Jamaica
Japan National Museum, Tokyo
Jordan
Kenya
Korea National Museum of Korea, Seoul
Kuwait
Laos
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Liechenstein
Luxembourg
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldiwe Islands
Mali
Malta Museum of Natural Science, Gozo
Mauritania
Mexico Universum, Museo de las Ciencias, Mexico City
Monaco
Mongolia
Morocco
Muscat and Oman
Nauru
Nepal National Museum of Nepal, Kathmandu
Netherlands National Museum of the History of Science and
Medicine in Leiden
New Zealand Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa,
Wellington
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Norway
Pakistan
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland Olsztynskie Planetarium i Obserwatorium
Astronomiczne, Olsztyn
Portugal
Romania Muzeul National de Istorie a Romƒniei, Bucharest
Rwanda
San Marino
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Singapore Singapore Science Centre
Somalia
South Africa
Southern Yemen
Soviet Union
Spain
Sudan
Swaziland
Sweden Reported stolen from Naturhistoriska riksmuseet
(National Museum of Natural History) in Stockholm in 2002
Switzerland focusTerra, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
(ETH), Zurich
Syria
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
United Arab Republic
United Kingdom 10 Downing Street (in the study), London
Upper Volta
Uruguay
Vatican City Vatican Museum
Venezuela
Vietnam
Western Samoa
Yemen
Yugoslavia Museum of Yugoslav History, Muzej 25 Maj (Museum
of the 25th of May), Belgrade, Serbia
Zambia
United Nations
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California San Diego Air & Space Museum
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa State Historical Museum, Des Moines
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland Maryland State House, Annapolis
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson (in
storage)
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Jersey State Museum, Trenton (in storage) New
Mexico
New York
North Carolina North Carolina Museum of History, Raleigh
North Dakota
Ohio Ohio Historical Center, Columbus
Oklahoma Oklahoma History Center, Oklahoma City
Oregon
Pennsylvania Planetarium, The State Museum of Pennsylvania,
Harrisburg
Rhode Island State Library, Providence
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont held in the collection of the Vermont Historical
Society, Barre
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia State Museum, Charleston
Wisconsin
Wyoming
District of Columbia
Guam
Puerto Rico
Virgin Islands
American Somoa
Goodwill moonrocks
-----------------
Prior to the end of their third and final moon walk, Apollo 17
astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt paused to make a special
dedication:
EUGENE CERNAN: 'Houston, before we close out our [moon walk], we
understand that there are young people in Houston today who have been
effectively touring our country, young people from countries all over
the world, respectively, touring our country. They had the opportunity
to watch the launch of Apollo 17; hopefully had an opportunity to meet
some of our young people in our country. And we'd like to say first of
all, welcome, we hope you enjoyed your stay.
'Second of all, I think probably one of the most significant
things we can think about when we think about Apollo is that it has
opened for us -- "for us" being the world -- a challenge of the
future. The door is now cracked, but the promise of the future lies in
the young people, not just in America, but the young people all over
the world learning to live and learning to work together. In order to
remind all the people of the world in so many countries throughout the
world that this is what we all are striving for in the future, Jack
has picked up a very significant rock, typical of what we have here in
the valley of Taurus-Littrow.
'It's a rock composed of many fragments, of many sizes, and many
shapes, probably from all parts of the Moon, perhaps billions of years
old. But fragments of all sizes and shapes -- and even colors -- that
have grown together to become a cohesive rock, outlasting the nature
of space, sort of living together in a very coherent, very peaceful
manner. When we return this rock or some of the others like it to
Houston, we'd like to share a piece of this rock with so many of the
countries throughout the world. We hope that this will be a symbol of
what our feelings are, what the feelings of the Apollo Program are,
and a symbol of mankind: that we can live in peace and harmony in the
future.'
HARRISON SCHMITT: 'A portion of [this] rock will be sent to a
representative agency or museum in each of the countries represented
by the young people in Houston today, and we hope that they -- that
rock and the students themselves -- will carry with them our good
wishes, not only for the new year coming up but also for themselves,
their countries, and all mankind in the future.'
Three months after Apollo 17 returned home in December 1972, US
President Richard Nixon ordered the distribution of fragments from the
rock that Cernan and Schmitt collected, sample #70017, to 135 foreign
heads of state, the 50 US states, and its provinces. Each rock,
encased in an acrylic button, was mounted to a plaque with intended
recipient's flag, also flown to the Moon.
A letter, signed by President Nixon, accompanied the samples that
were transferred to foreign heads of state. Dated 21 March 1973, it
read as follows (as reproduced from the National Archives):
'The Apollo lunar landing program conducted by the United States
has been brought to a successful conclusion. Men from the planet Earth
have reached the first milestone in space. But as we stretch for the
stars, we know that we stand also upon the shoulders of many men of
many nations here on our own planet. In the deepest sense our
exploration of the moon was truly an international effort.
'It is for this reason that, on behalf of the people of the United
States I present this flag, which was carried to the moon, to the
State, and its fragment of the moon obtained during the final lunar
mission of the Apollo program.
'If people of many nations can act together to achieve the dreams
of humanity in space, then surely we can act together to accomplish
humanity's dream of peace here on earth. It was in this spirit that
the Untied States of America went to the moon, and it is in this
spirit that we look forward to sharing what we have done and what we
have learned with all mankind.'
Once gifted, each of the goodwill moon rock samples became the
property of the recipient and was no longer subject to being tracked
by NASA. All other lunar sample locations are well documented by the
US space agency to this day (with exception to similarly gifted Apollo
11 lunar sample displays).
As property of the nation or state, the goodwill rocks are now
subject to the laws for public gifts as set by that country [or
state]. In most cases, as in the United States, public gifts cannot be
legally transferred to individual ownership without the passage of
additional legislation.
Since 2002, collectSPACE has attempted to locate the current
whereabouts of all the goodwill moon rocks. The following chart
details those efforts [as at mid November 2009].
Special gratitude is extended to former NASA Office of Inspector
General special agent Joseph Gutheinz, who today as a professor at the
University of Phoenix, Arizona, has challenged his students to locate
the goodwill moon rocks.
Do you know the current status of a fragment of Sample 70017?
Write us at moonrocks@collectspace.com
No. Nation/State Location/Status
--- --------------- ---------------
239 Alabama
240 Alaska Alaska State Museum, Juneau
241 Arizona
242 Arkansas
243 California
244 Colorado
245 Connecticut
246 Delaware in storage in the state's archives (Delaware
Museum Association)
247 Florida
248 Georgia Fernbank Science Center, Atlanta
249 Hawaii
250 Idaho
251 Illinois
252 Indiana
253 Iowa State Historical Museum, Des Moines
254 Kansas
255 Kentucky
256 Louisiana
257 Maine
258 Maryland
259 Massachusetts Museum of Science, Boston
260 Michigan Michigan Historical Museum, Lansing
261 Minnesota Minnesota Historical Society, MN150 exhibit, St.
Paul
262 Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson (in
storage)
263 Missouri
264 Montana
265 Nebraska
266 Nevada Nevada State Museum, Carson City (in storage)
267 New Hampshire
268 New Jersey
269 New Mexico
270 New York New York State Museum, Albany (in storage)
271 North Carolina
272 North Dakota
273 Ohio
274 Oklahoma Oklahoma History Center, Oklahoma City
275 Oregon
276 Pennsylvania Planetarium, The State Museum of Pennsylvania,
Harrisburg
277 Rhode Island
278 South Carolina
279 South Dakota
280 Tennessee Pink Palace Museum Sharpe Planetarium, Memphis
281 Texas On loan through January 10, 2010 from the State
Capitol Building (State Preservation Board) to the Museum of Fine
Arts, Houston as part of the exhibit, The Moon
282 Utah
283 Vermont in the collection of the Vermont Historical
Society, Barre
284 Virginia Science Museum of Virginia, Richmond
285 Washington
286 West Virginia
287 Wisconsin Deke Slayton Memorial Space and Bicycle Museum,
Sparta
288 Wyoming
289 Puerto Rico
290 not distributed, still at NASA
291 China
292 not distributed, still at NASA
293 not distributed, still at NASA
294 Afghanistan
295 Argentina Planetario Galileo Galilei, Buenos Aires
296 Australia National Museum of Australia, Canberra, in
storage
297 Austria Naturhistorisches Museum, Meteorite Hall
298 Bahamas
299 Bahrain Bahrain National Museum, Manama (unconfirmed)
300 Barbados Barbados Museum & Historical Society
301 Belgium Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences,
Brussels
302 Bolivia
303 Brazil
304 Canada Canada Science and Technology Museum, on loan
from the Canadian Museum of Nature
305 Chad
306 Taiwan
307 Colombia
308 Costa Rica Museo Nacional de Costa Rica, San Jose (in
storage)
309 Dahomey
310 Denmark
311 Dominican Republic
312 Ecuador
313 Egypt Egyptian Geological Museum, Cairo
314 Congo Republic
315 El Salvador Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Zona Rosa
316 Finland Mineralogical Museum of the Geological Survey of
Finland, Otaniemi, Espoo
317 Gabon
318 W. Germany Deutsches Museum, Munich
319 Solomon Islands Soloman Islands National Museum
320 Guatemala
321 Guyana National Museum of Guyana, Georgetown
322 Haiti
323 Honduras Acquired illegally and then smuggled into the
U.S. in 1995; offered for sale for $5 million to undercover NASA agent
and confiscated in 1998; returned to Honduras and now displayed at
Centro Interactivo de Ense¤anza Chiminike in Tegucigalpa
324 Iceland
325 India
326 Indonesia
327 Iran
328 Ireland National Museum of Ireland, Museum of Natural
History, Dublin
329 Israel
330 Italy Museo Nazionale Della Scienza E Della Tecnologia
"Leonardo da Vinci", Milan
331 Ivory Coast
332 Jamaica
333 Japan National Museum, Tokyo
334 Jordan
335 Khmer
336 Korea
337 Lebanon
338 Liberia
339 Luxemborg
340 Malta Reported stolen 5/2004; National Museum of
Natural History, Mdina
341 Mexico Universum, Museo de las Ciencias, Mexico City
342 Netherlands National Museum of the History of Science and
Medicine in Leiden
343 New Zealand Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa,
Wellington
344 Nicaragua
345 Niger
346 Nigeria
347 Norway Geological Museum, Natural History Museum, Oslo
348 Pakistan
349 Panama
350 Paraguay
351 Peru
352 Philippines
353 Portugal
354 Qatar
355 Saudi Arabia
356 South Africa Transvaal Museum, Pretoria
357 Spain Museo Naval, Madrid since 2007; previously in a
private collection
358 Swaziland
359 Switzerland Swiss Museum of Transport, Lucerne
360 Tanzania
361 Thailand
362 Togo
363 Tunisia
364 Turkey
365 United Kingdom Natural History Museum, London
366 Uruguay
367 Venezuela
368 VietNam
369 Zambia
370 Algeria
371 Bhutan
372 Botswana
373 Bulgaria National Museum of Natural History, Sofia
374 Burma
375 Cameroon
376 Central African Republic
377 Mozambique
378 Cyprus Never presented as a result of government coup;
retained by US Embassy in Cyprus; last reported (2003) by son of US
diplomat as in his custody.
379 Czechoslovakia
380 Guinea Equatorial
381 Ethiopia
382 Fiji
383 France Palais de la D‚couverte, Paris
384 Gambia
385 Ghana
386 Guinea Republic
387 Hungary
388 Kenya
389 Kuwait
390 Laos "Haw Kham" Royal Palace Museum, Luang Prabang
391 Lesotho
392 Libya
393 Madagascar
394 Malawi
395 Malaysia
396 Maldives
397 Mali
398 Mauritania
399 Mauritius
400 Morocco
401 Nepal National Museum of Nepal, Kathmandu
402 Oman
403 Poland Olsztynskie Planetarium i Obserwatorium
Astronomiczne, Olsztyn
404 Romania Reported among auctioned possessions of dictator
Ceausescu
405 Rwanda
406 Senegal
407 Sierra Leone
408 Singapore Singapore Science Centre
409 Somali
410 Sri Lanka
411 Sudan
412 Trinidad & Tobago
413 USSR
414 United Arab Emirates Al Ain National Museum
415 Upper Volta
416 Yemen
417 Yugoslavia Museum of Yugoslav History, Belgrad, Serbia
418 Zaire
419 not distributed, still at NASA
420 Bangladesh
421 Liechtenstein
422 Monaco
423 Nauru
424 San Marino
425 Tonga
426 Vatican Vatican Museum
427 West Samoa
428 Chile Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Santiago
429 Sweden National Museum of Science and Technology,
Stockholm
--------
Ambassador of exploration moonrocks
---------------------------------
During preparation of this article, collectSPACE suggested
including that I discuss a third category, the 'Ambassador of
exploration' moonrocks. These are not gifts but their ceremonies are
often reported as a gift presentation.
In order to recognize the sacrifices and dedication of the
Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts, each is presented a moon rock
as part of a special ceremony. In addition to astronauts, select other
persons are honored who played a specially significant role in the
furtherance of the American human space program.
The moon rocks awarded are each part of a sample returned by the
Apollo 17 mission from the Taurus-Littrow Valley. Each is encased in
an acrylic sphere and attached to a plaque bearing images of a Saturn
V rocket launch, an astronaut (John Young) jumping on the Moon, the
planet Mars and the International Space Station.
The lunar samples remain the property of NASA, but the astronauts
and their surviving families, in coordination with NASA, select a
museum or other educational institution where their awards will be
publicly displayed in their name to help inspire a new generation of
explorers.
The award celebrates the "realization of a vision" for exploration
first articulated by President John F Kennedy in May 1961, when NASA's
fledgling human space flight program had little more than 15 minutes
of space flight experience. In addition to the moon rocks, each of the
34 astronauts (nine now deceased) are named by NASA as "Ambassadors of
Exploration".
As Ambassadors of Exploration, the recipients will help NASA
communicate the benefits and excitement of space exploration and "why
the continuing investment in our future is vital to the security and
vitality of America."
Several honorees as at mid November 2009 did not yet designated a
display site for NASA's evaluation and approval;. They are listed at
the end of the table. There is no time limit to find a location. When
one is determined, arrangements for a ceremony are made.
-----------------------------------------------
Date Astronaut/Person Moonrock display
----------- ---------------- -------------------------------
2005 Apr 18 Neil Armstrong Cincinnati Museum Center,
Cincinnati OH
2005 May 12 Gene Cernan National Museum of Naval Aviation,
Pensacola FL
2005 Jul 12 Tom Stafford Stafford Air and Space Museum,
Weatherford OK
2005 Jul 20 John Young Museum of Natural Science, Houston TX
2005 Oct 7 Walt Cunningham Frontiers of Flight Museum,
Dallas TX
2005 Nov 16 Wally Schirra San Diego Aerospace Museum,
San Diego CA
2005 Nov.19 Dick Gordon The Museum of Flight, Seattle WA
2006 Feb 5 Ed Mitchell South Florida Science Museum,
West Palm Beach FL
2006 Feb 9 Stuart Roosa US Astronaut Hall of Fame,
Titusville FL
2006 Feb 9 Michael Collins Cradle of Aviation Museum,
Garden City LI
2006 Feb 20 John Glenn John Glenn Institute of Public Service
and Public Policy, Columbus OH
2006 Feb 22 Deke Slayton Deke Slayton Memorial Space & Bike
Museum, Sparta WI
2006 Feb 28 Walter Cronkite Center for American History,
Austin TX
2006 Mar 25 Buzz Aldrin California Science Center,
Los Angeles CA
2006 May 8 Frank Borman Pima Air and Space Museum, Tucson AZ
2006 May 8 Charlie Duke Admiral Farragut Academy
St Petersburg FL
2006 Sep 30 Chris Kraft Virginia Tech University College of
Engineering, Blacksburg VA
2006 Oct 6 Jim McDivitt University of Michigan College of
Engineering, Ann Arbor MI
2006 Nov 18 Pete Conrad The Museum of Flight, Seattle WA
2007 Sep 28 Gus Grissom Walt Disney World Resort: Epcot,
Orlando FL
2007 Oct 6 Roger Chaffee Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering,
Purdue University, West Lafayette IN
2007 Oct 23 Donn Eisele Broward Public Library,
Ft Lauderdale FL
2007 Nov 10 Scott Carpenter Denver Museum of Nature and Science,
Denver CO
2007 Dec 6 Gene Kranz Central Catholic High School,
Toledo OH
2008 May 23 Jack Swigert Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space
Museum, Denver CO
2009 Jan 21 Vance Brand Museum & Cultural Center,
Longmont CO
2009 Mar 26 Ken Mattingly Auburn University, Auburn AL
2009 Apr 3 James Lovell Patuxent River Naval Air Museum,
Lexington Park MD
2009 Jul 20 John F Kennedy Fondren Library, Rice University,
Houston TX
2009 Jul 30 Al Worden Apollo/Saturn V Center,
Kennedy Space Center FL
2009 Dec 2 Fred Haise Gorenflo Elementary School,
Biloxi MS
Bill Anders TBA
Alan Bean TBA
Gordon Cooper TBA
Ronald Evans TBA
Jim Irwin TBA
Harrison Schmitt TBA
Rusty Schweickart TBA
David Scott Science Museum, London, England (TBA)
Alan Shepard TBA
Edward White TBA
----------------------------------
Conclusion
--------
The huge fraction of Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 moonrock that are
missing is incredible! While it could be agrued that many overseas
recipients just don't have the competence to curate a national
treasure, the situation is no better within the United States.
Again it must be understanded that a blank simply means the rock
is not accounted for. It does not mean that it is really lost or
stolen. A few specimina were reported as stolen, as indicated in the
tables. News about their eventual recovery or confirmed irretrievable
loss is covered in the news media and collectSPACE's website.