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.
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]
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]
The North Carolina Apollo 17 "goodwill Moon rocks" plaque display that was given to the state of North Carolina in 1973 was found in a drawer at the North Carolina Department of Commerce when a new employee came across it in a desk drawer in his new office. The new employee was a colleague of Christopher Brown, professor at North Carolina State University, and loaned the display to Brown. In 2010 Brown presented it to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences for public exhibition in the museum's new wing, where the North Carolina Apollo 11 lunar sample plaque display was already on display. [4]
The Apollo 11 sample display is in the collection of the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh. [1] It is not on public exhibition. [5]
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.
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 Honduras 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 Honduras 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Alaska 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 Alaska 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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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