(It’s a fascinating aside toOur curator, Dan Kendall, tells the story of how we acquired this amazing piece of space history from 10 Downing Street:“Securing this loan began with a chance letter written back in January [2016].
These Moon rock state gifts each contain 0.05 grams of Moon rock – four pebbles in total – suspended in a clear acrylic dome, along with a small flag of the nation that flew to the Moon and back. Apollo 11 scientist shows off secret Moon landing photos: ‘That’s why Neil ran back’ MOON LANDING scientist Farouk El-Baz revealed to Express.co.uk the … Image Credit: Nixon White House Photo Office Of the 270 Apollo 11 Moon rocks and the Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rocks that were given to the nations of the world by the Nixon Administration, approximately 180 are unaccounted for. We were aware that Downing Street had the Moon Rock from Apollo 11, and thought why not ask if they’d be prepared to let us loan it for a while?“It’s really tough to get hold of anything related to Apollo 11, as it is after all one of the most famous events in history, and most of the objects that relate to it are on display in the USA.
Moon rocks have been subjects of theft and forgery as well. Image Credit: NASA, Apollo 12 The Apollo 11 podium style commemorative wooden plaque displays were given out as gifts in 1970 by President Richard Nixon to 135 countries worldwide, the 50 states of the United States and its territories. In fact, as far as I am aware, we are now the only place outside of Central and North America that has Moon rocks on display from both the first and last Moon landings.” Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon.Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin formed the American crew that landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC.Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface six hours and 39 minutes later on July 21 at 02:56 UTC; Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later.
This was corrected by each of the nation's flags being carried on Apollo 12 and wording changed that their flag "was carried to the Moon and back" without specifying on which Apollo mission.The messages at the bottom of the wooden podium plaque display read:
Buy your tickets online and upgrade to a free annual pass!Moon rocks from the first and last Moon landings – Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 – are now both on display at the National Space Centre, thanks to a loan from 10 Downing Street.Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the surface of the Moon for less than two and a half hours when they made their historic Moon landing back in 1969, but they managed to collect a whole load of rocks – Most of these rocks have ended up in NASA and university laboratories and have helped us piece together what the Moon is made of and how it formed.But a few Moon rocks have also became souvenirs – many as Then-US president Richard Nixon felt it was important to share the first Moon landing as a global event, connecting all mankind, and commissioned special state gifts for 135 different countries.These Moon rock state gifts each contain 0.05 grams of Moon rock – four pebbles in total – suspended in a clear acrylic dome, along with a small flag of the nation that flew to the Moon and back.The Moon rocks and flag are mounted on a wooden podium inscribed “This flag of your nation 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 manned lunar landing.”Nixon gave these to 135 different countries, including the United Kingdom. The Apollo 11 lunar sample display is a commemorative podium style plaque display consisting of four rice-size dust particle specimens (dubbed "Moon rocks"), the recipient's flag and two small metal plates attached with descriptive messages. "Presented to the people of California by Richard Nixon, President of the United States of America.If the wooded display went to a country of the world instead of one of the states of the United States then the word "state" was replaced with "nation" or "kingdom".Once the displays were given, they became the property of the recipient,The recipients were 135 foreign countries, the 50 United States and its provinces, and the United Nations.
The iconic Rocket Tower is home to Blue Streak and Thor Able rockets. In all, astronauts collected 22 kilograms of material, including 50 rocks, samples of the fine-grained lunar "soil," and two core tubes that included material from up to 13 centimeters below the Moon's surface. The message explained that the Moon soil material came from the Apollo 11 mission and that their flag was carried to the Moon and back on the first manned mission.