:Colorado lunar sample displays
File:Colorado Apollo 17 Display.jpg
The Colorado 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 Colorado by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.
Description
= Apollo 11 =
{{main|Apollo 11 lunar sample display}}
File:Apollo 11 Lunar display at Colorado School of Mines.jpg]]
{{Apollo 11 lunar sample display}}
= Apollo 17 =
{{main|Apollo 17 lunar sample display}}
{{Apollo 17 lunar sample display}}
History
File:Moon Rock by Joel Bach.jpg
The Colorado Apollo 11 lunar samples plaque was first displayed in a low-security location with easy public access on the first floor of the Colorado State Capitol building beginning around 1992. By 2010 it had been moved to a secure display on the third floor, when the Capitol Building Advisory Committee decided to move it to an unknown location until it could come up with plans for a permanent secure location. This action was prompted by speculative news reports about the high value of the material and concern about the potential for theft.{{cite news |url=http://statebillnews.com/2010/07/citing-security-colo-removes-apollo-11-moon-rocks-from-display/ |title=Citing Security, Colo. Removes Apollo 11 Moon Rocks From Display |work=State Bill Colorado |date=July 14, 2010 |accessdate=November 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527052944/http://statebillnews.com/2010/07/citing-security-colo-removes-apollo-11-moon-rocks-from-display/ |archive-date=May 27, 2012 |url-status=dead }}
Some time after NASA astronaut Jack Lousma presented the Colorado Apollo 17 lunar sample display to then-Colorado Governor John Vanderhoof on January 9, 1974, it was considered lost until it was located in June 2010 in Vanderhoof's home.{{cite journal |url=http://minesmagazine.com/376/ |title=Moon Rock Lands at Mines |journal=Mines |date=January 1, 2011 |first1=Trisha |last1=Kendall|location=Golden, Colorado |accessdate=November 12, 2012 |publisher=Colorado School of Mines}} A Denver news channel reported that Vanderhoof, who left office in 1975, "didn't know what to do with the display once he left office so he simply decided to take it with him".{{cite news |url=http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/23755988/detail.html |publisher=KMGH-TV |date=June 1, 2010 |title=7NEWS Tracks Down State's Missing Moon Rock/Rock, Plaque Discovered At Former Colo. Governor's Home |accessdate=November 2, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111101143709/http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/23755988/detail.html |archive-date=November 1, 2011 |url-status=dead }} The plaque display with the Apollo 17 "Moon rock" has since been moved to the Colorado School of Mines, where it is displayed in the Geology Museum.{{cite news |url=http://www.mines.edu/Gov.-Ritter-Mines-unveil-new-home-for-moon-rock |title=Gov. Ritter, Mines unveil new home for moon rock Gov. Ritter, Mines unveil new home for moon rock |location=Golden, Colorado |accessdate=November 12, 2012 |publisher=Colorado School of Mines |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113122640/http://www.mines.edu/Gov.-Ritter-Mines-unveil-new-home-for-moon-rock |archive-date=November 13, 2012 |url-status=dead }}
See also
References
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Further reading
{{Commons category}}
- {{cite book |title=The Case of the Missing Moon Rocks |pages=47 |first1=Joe |last1=Kloc|publisher=The Atavist/Amazon Digital Services, Inc |date=February 19, 2012 |asin=B007BGZNZ8}}
{{Lunar sample displays|state=expanded}}
{{The Moon}}