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Author
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Topic: Apollo moon rocks: distribution and disposition
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Jonnyed
Member Posts: 408
From: Dumfries, VA, USA
Registered: Aug 2014
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posted 03-27-2015 06:37 PM
   
I understand that the Apollo missions brought over 2,400 samples and 800+ pounds of moon rocks back. Who decided how these rocks were distributed or not distributed? I guess that the value of a moon rock is just about priceless (I'd pay a lot if I had it!) so how are the reserves in the Houston museum and the White Sands stash protected? Kind of like Fort Knox I guess. Did the astronauts get to keep a moon rock for themselves? I'm not aware if Jack Schmitt ever wrote a book/paper on the geology of the moon — given his unique experience it would seem like a good idea. If you know of a good book or paper on moon rocks I'd appreciate your recommendations. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-27-2015 06:51 PM
No individuals, astronauts and presidents included, were ever gifted a moon rock. The only lunar material given away by the United States were the displays prepared using Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 samples.The astronauts were awarded moon rocks in name only as Ambassadors of Exploration, but those samples remain the property of NASA and are on long-term loan to museums and educational institutions. The majority of moon rocks are held today in vaults in the Lunar Sample Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston (not a museum). It has no where near the security of Fort Knox (nor is it needed) but it is on federal property, requiring proper accreditation to access. A smaller cache of lunar material is held at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico to protect against the unlikely scenario that something were to happen to Johnson Space Center (e.g. hurricane damage preventing access). Scientists and museums can request loaned samples for scientific study or public display through NASA's Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office. Harrison Schmitt is currently working on a multi-volume series about the scientific outcome of the Apollo 17 mission, which will include details as to what was learned from the moon rocks that Cernan and he returned. The lunar samples brought back by all six missions were cataloged by NASA. |
Headshot
Member Posts: 891
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 03-28-2015 09:01 AM
It is curious that the Lunar Sample Catalogs linked do not include the Apollo 12 Sample Catalog. Wonder why? Maybe it was never pdf-ed. The Apollo 12 Lunar Sample Catalog copy in my possession is designated NASA Technical Report TR R-353 and dated Dec 1970. |
Jonnyed
Member Posts: 408
From: Dumfries, VA, USA
Registered: Aug 2014
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posted 03-28-2015 09:58 AM
Interesting that you mentioned Apollo 12's lunar sample catalog. While searching around on the web for info on moon rocks, I came across this 1995 New York Times article on the 1970 theft of an Apollo 12 moon rock and the FBI's seizure of it at a 1995 auction. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-28-2015 11:05 AM
Here's the follow-up article; the Apollo 12 moon rock wasn't real and the brothers trying to sell it were charged with fraud. quote:
Originally posted by Headshot:
It is curious that the Lunar Sample Catalogs linked do not include the Apollo 12 Sample Catalog.
Here's another source for the sample catalogs, including Apollo 12. |
Headshot
Member Posts: 891
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 03-28-2015 11:14 AM
Too bad there is not a price list to go with those Apollo sample lists!  |
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