Alaska lunar sample displays facts for kids
The Alaska lunar sample displays are two special gifts given to the people of Alaska. These gifts are small pieces of Moon rock brought back by astronauts from the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 missions. United States President Richard Nixon gave these "goodwill gifts" in the 1970s. They are mounted on special plaques to be displayed.
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What Are These Moon Rocks?
The Apollo 11 Display
The Apollo 11 Moon rock display for Alaska is a special plaque. It holds four tiny pieces of Moon rock. These pieces are about the size of a grain of rice. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin collected them in 1969. The display also includes a small Alaska state flag. This flag traveled all the way to the Moon and back on the Apollo 11 mission!
The four Moon rock pieces weigh very little, about 0.05 grams in total. They are sealed inside a clear plastic button, like a coin. This button is attached to a wooden board, about one foot square. The board stands on a small pedestal. The Alaska state flag, about 4 by 6 inches, is placed right below the Moon rocks.
President Richard Nixon gave this display to Alaska as a gift. Similar Moon rock displays were also given to all other U.S. states. They were also given to many countries around the world at that time.
The words on the wooden display say:
Presented to
the people of the state of
Alaska
by
Richard Nixon
President of the United States of America.
This flag of your state 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
crewed lunar landing.
The Apollo 17 Display
The Apollo 17 Moon rock display for Alaska is another special plaque. It measures about 10 by 14 inches. This display has one piece of Moon rock. It was cut from a larger rock called lunar basalt 70017. This piece is placed inside a clear plastic ball, about the size of a billiard ball.
In the center of the plaque is a small Alaska state flag. It is about 4 by 6 inches. Astronaut Harrison Schmitt collected the lunar basalt 70017 on the Moon in 1972. After it came back to Earth, the rock was cut into smaller pieces. Each piece was about 1 gram.
This Moon rock piece was sealed in the plastic ball. It was then mounted on the wooden plaque with the Alaska state flag. The flag had also traveled to the Moon and back with the Apollo 17 crew. President Richard Nixon gave this plaque to Alaska in 1973. He gave similar gifts to all 49 other states. These gifts were meant to promote peace and friendship.
The Mystery of the Missing Moon Rock
The Apollo 11 Moon rock display was on public view in 1973. It was at the Alaska Transportation Museum in Anchorage. In September of that year, a fire broke out at the museum. The Apollo 11 display was reported missing after the fire.
The Alaska Apollo 11 Moon rock display was missing for many years. Then, in 2010, it mysteriously reappeared! A man from Texas named Coleman Anderson said he found the plaque. He claimed he found it in the burned-out museum remains when he was a teenager in 1973. Anderson was the stepson of the museum's curator at the time.
Anderson said he looked through the ashes and found the plaque. It was covered in a thick layer of ash. He thought it would be a "cool" souvenir and planned to clean it. He said that garbage workers saw him looking through the debris but did not stop him. Anderson claimed he saved the plaque from being destroyed. He said he kept it safe for 38 years.
Anderson later went to court. He wanted to be paid for protecting the plaque. Or, he wanted to be declared the rightful owner of the Alaska Moon rock display. He argued that the burned debris was being thrown away. So, anything found there should be considered public property.
The Alaska Assistant Attorney General disagreed with Anderson. They represented the Alaska State Museum and the people of Alaska. A court order was issued to send the Moon rock plaque to NASA. NASA kept it safe while a judge decided who owned it.
The missing Moon rocks were returned by Anderson on December 7, 2012. The Alaska Attorney General's Office stated that the Moon rock still belonged to the museum.
The Alaska Apollo 17 Moon rock display is currently kept at the Alaska State Museum in Juneau.
Images for kids
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Elizabeth Riker, who helped find the missing Moon rock.
