The Case of the Missing Moon Rocks

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The Case of the Missing Moon Rocks
The Case of the Missing Moon Rocks.jpg
AuthorJoe Kloc
IllustratorJoe Kloc
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Subject Stolen Moon rocks
Genre Non-fiction
Publisher The Atavist
Publication date
February 22, 2012 (2012-02-22)
Media typeNook Book
ISBN 1937894045
ASIN   B007BGZNZ8

The Case of the Missing Moon Rocks is a 2012 non-fiction book by Joe Kloc, a former contributing editor for Seed Magazine . It describes the efforts of both Joseph Gutheinz, a NASA Office of Inspector General Senior Special Agent turned college professor and his students to locate and find up to 79 missing Apollo 11 and 17 Moon rocks and plaques that the United States government gave away to 135 nations of the world, all 50 states and its territories. [1]

Contents

It begins by telling the story of Operation Lunar Eclipse, the first successful sting operation to recover a piece of the Moon brought back by American astronauts, a sting operation the professor led and went undercover in, while still an agent. The sting operation successfully recovered the Honduras Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock stolen in 1995, and recovered from Florida businessman Alan H. Rosen in 1998. [2] This operation was funded in part with the financial assistance of H. Ross Perot, billionaire and former presidential candidate. [3] [4]

On October 1, 2012, Gutheinz gave a major speech on Operation Lunar Eclipse and the Moon Rock Project before the Engineering Colloquium at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The speech was entitled "Finding the Missing Moon Rocks", and is preserved on a video at the Space Flight Center Library. [5] In that speech Joe Gutheinz was critical of NASA and the U.S. Government for not turning over the Cyprus Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock to Cyprus, which was also a major topic in Joe Kloc's novel. On May 16, 2013, news reports first broke that bowing from pressure from Cyprus the United States Government would give Cyprus its Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock. [6] [7]

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Gutheinz</span> American lawyer

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

The Cyprus lunar sample displays are part of 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 the Republic of Cyprus by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

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

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.

<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">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.

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

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 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">Hawaii lunar sample displays</span>

The Hawaii 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 Hawaii 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">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.

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">West Virginia lunar sample displays</span>

The West Virginia 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 West Virginia by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.

References

  1. ↑ Crowder, Courtney (April 26, 2013). "Review: 'The Case of the Missing Moon Rocks', by Joe Kloc". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Honduran 'goodwill' moon rock on trial | collectSPACE". collectSPACE.com. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  3. ↑ Kloc, Joe (February 2012). "The Case of the Missing Moon Rocks". The Atavist . Archived from the original on 2015-09-08. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
  4. ↑ Brown, Lowell (July 2013). "Fly Me to the Moon: How a Houston attorney combs the planet looking for rocks from outer space". Texas Bar Journal . 76 (7): 581. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  5. ↑ Gutheinz, Joseph (October 1, 2012). "Finding the Missing Moon Rocks". Goddard Engineering Colloquium. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  6. ↑ Leveille, David (May 16, 2013). "Whatever Happened to all the Moon Rocks". PRI The World. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  7. ↑ Evripidou, Stefanos (May 17, 2013). "Cyprus finally asks for return of its moon rock". Cyprus Mail .[ dead link ]
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