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posted 05-12-2001 09:32 AM               

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My wife was given a piece of rock a few years ago by a wealthy Arab businessman. He said that it was moon rock which had been given to him by an American astronaut. How can we prove that we actually have moon rock?

regards

Charles

Posts: 23
From: USA
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 05-12-2001 03:03 PM               

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It's my understanding that none of the astronauts were given lunar rock samples. So, the odds are pretty slim that the rock you have actually came from the moon.

Rachel

Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 05-12-2001 07:53 PM               

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I can confirm: no astronaut was given a moonrock to keep. The U.S. Congress has recently been working to try to rectify this oversight.

Therefore, it would seem your rock is not of lunar origin. Probably a good thing anyway: ownership of lunar rocks returned by the Apollo missions is prohibited by law (with only a few, limited exceptions).

Posts: 200
From: Inverness, FL
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 05-14-2001 05:08 AM               

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It occured to me that during the post-flight travels, many Astronauts DID in fact present moonrocks to dignitaries ( or whatever you want to call them.) Certainly no Astronauts had the moonrocks for personal use, but many rocks were sent with them to be given as mementos to the various countries they traveled to. It is possible this would account for an American Astronaut "giving" someone a rock. Still, I agree it is unlikely.

Tom