Malta lunar sample displays

Last updated

The Malta lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of Moon specimen brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions and were given to the people of Malta by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

Contents

Description

Apollo 11

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. [1] [2] 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. [1]

The plaques were given as gifts by Nixon in 1970. [1]

Apollo 17

Message on Apollo 17 plaque Apollo 17 Goodwill msg1.jpg
Message on Apollo 17 plaque

The sample Moon rock collected during the Apollo 17 mission was later named lunar basalt 70017, and dubbed the Goodwill rock. [3] Pieces of the rock weighing about 1.14 grams [2] were placed inside a piece of acrylic lucite, and mounted along with a flag from the country that had flown on Apollo 17 it would be distributed to. [3]

In 1973 Nixon had the plaques sent to 135 countries, and to the United States with its territories, as a goodwill gesture. [3]

History

A 2014 aerial view of Mdina and its walls Aerial view Mdina, Malta.jpg
A 2014 aerial view of Mdina and its walls

The Maltese Apollo 17 display was stolen from the Museum of Natural History in Mdina in 2004. [4] The Maltese flag that had flown on the Apollo 17 mission was left behind. [5] As of 2012, the Apollo 17 Maltese "goodwill Moon rock" is still missing. [6]

The Maltese Apollo 11 display given to Malta is housed in the Gozo Museum of Natural Science in Gozo, Malta. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California lunar sample displays</span>

The California lunar displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of Moon specimen brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions and given in the 1970s to the people of the state of California by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brazil lunar sample displays</span>

The Brazil lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of Moon specimen brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 Moon missions and given in the 1970s to the people of the country of Brazil by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

The Canada lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of Moon specimen brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions and given in the 1970s to the people of Canada by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

The Ireland lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of Moon rock brought back to Earth by the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions and given to the people of Ireland by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Netherlands lunar sample displays</span>

The Netherlands lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of Moon specimens brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 Moon missions and given to the people of the Netherlands by President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicaragua lunar sample displays</span> Commemorative plaques

The Nicaraguan lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of Moon specimen brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 Moon missions and given in the 1970s to the people of Nicaragua by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norway lunar sample displays</span>

The Norway lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of Moon specimen brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions and given in the 1970s to the people of the Kingdom of Norway by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romania lunar sample displays</span>

The Romania lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of Moon specimen brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions and given in the 1970s to the people of Romania by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

The Spain lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of tiny fragments of Moon specimens brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions. These plaques were given to the people of Spain by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sweden lunar sample displays</span>

The Sweden goodwill lunar displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of tiny fragments of Moon specimens brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions. These plaques were given to the people of Sweden by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

The Arkansas lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of Moon specimen brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions and given in the 1970s to the people of the state of Arkansas by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

The Delaware lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of Moon specimen brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions and given in the 1970s to the people of the state of Delaware by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illinois lunar sample displays</span>

The Illinois lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of Moon specimen brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions and given in the 1970s to the people of Illinois by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missouri lunar sample displays</span>

The Missouri lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of Moon specimen brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions and given in the 1970s to the people of the state of Missouri by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nebraska lunar sample displays</span>

The Nebraska lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of Moon specimen brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions and given in the 1970s to the people of Nebraska by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Jersey lunar sample displays</span>

The New Jersey lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of Moon specimen brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions and given in the 1970s to the people of the state of New Jersey by United States President Richard Nixon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Mexico lunar sample displays</span>

The New Mexico lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of Moon specimen brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions and given in the 1970s to the people of the state of New Mexico by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

The New York lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of Moon specimen brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions and given in the 1970s to the people of the state of New York by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Carolina lunar sample displays</span>

The North Carolina lunar sample displays are part of two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of Moon specimen brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions and given in the 1970s to the people of the state of North Carolina by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

The Oregon lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of Moon specimen brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions and given in the 1970s to the people of Oregon by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 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. 1 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. 1 2 3 Pearlman, Robert. "Where today are the Apollo 17 goodwill lunar sample displays". CollectSPACE. Archived from the original on 2012-10-15. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  4. ↑ Pearlman, Robert (May 21, 2004). "Moon rock stolen from Maltese museum". collectspace.com. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
  5. ↑ "$5M moon rock stolen from Malta museum". Valletta, Malta: Gannett. Associated Press. May 21, 2004. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
  6. ↑ Gutheinz, Joseph Richard (November 2004). "The Maltese moon rock". In Search of the Goodwill Moon Rocks: A Personal Account. Geotimes . Retrieved November 2, 2012.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.