Hunt for Moon Rocks

Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin from Apollo 11 and Harrison Schmitt and Gene Cernan from Apollo 17 brought back 837.87 pounds of rocks and dust from the moon; unmanned Soviet Luna missions returned with another 11.5 ounces. Where are these lunar samples?

     As a goodwill gesture, President Richard Nixon shared U.S. lunar samples with 135 countries, the 50 States, and 5 U.S. territories. You can find the whereabouts of these samples by searching "Where Today are the Apollo 11 Lunar Sample Displays?" at the website, collectspace.com. Among the samples that have been found are all from the U.S. States, except five. Wisconsin's sample is stored, but not displayed, at the Wisconsin Historical Society.

     Joseph Gutheinz, former Army intelligence officer and senior special agent in NASA's Office of Inspector General, created the Moon Rock Project at the University of Phoenix and put students to work hunting for lost moon rocks. To document search results and convey a wide variety of space-related information, including a listing of scholarships, space historian and journalist, Robert Pearlman, launched the collectSPACE website in 1999.

     Moon rocks have been found to contain three minerals: titanium-rich armalcolite, tranquillityite, and pyroxferroite. These minerals also have been found near sites hit by meteors.

     Goodwill lunar samples from at least 80 countries and territories and five states, including Michigan, are still missing. You can look for them at museums, planetariums, national archives,
ministries of culture, historical and natural history institutes, Parliament buildings, and among the homes and private papers of Governors and heads of state.

(Also see the earlier blog post, "Space Explorers.")