Colombia lunar sample displays
| Regolith rock | |
 Apollo 11 and 17 Sample Lunar Displays in permanent display at the Bogotá Planetarium, Colombia | |
| Coordinates | 4°36′43″N 074°04′08″W / 4.61194°N 74.06889°W |
|---|---|
| Composition | |
| Lunar soil | |
The Colombia 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 Colombia by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.[1][2]
Description
Apollo 11
The Apollo 11 Colombian Moon rocks commemorative plaque display consists of four "Moon rock" rice-sized particle specimens that were collected by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969 and a small Colombian flag that went to the Moon and back.[1]
The four Moon rocks weigh about 0.05 grams total and are entirely enveloped in a clear plastic button the size of a coin which is mounted to a wooden board approximately a foot square on a small podium pedestal display. The display also has a small Colombian flag that had been taken to the Moon and back on Apollo 11, which lies directly below the Moon rocks. President Richard Nixon gave the people of Colombia the display as a gift. Similar lunar sample displays were also distributed to all the United States states and the countries of the world.[1]
Apollo 17
The Colombia Apollo 17 lunar sample display consists of one Moon rock particle specimen cut from lunar basalt 70017 and a Colombian flag. The basalt 70017 was collected by Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt on the Moon in 1972. Once lunar basalt 70017 was brought back to Earth from the Moon, the basalt Moon rock was cut up into small fragments of approximately 1 gram. The specimen was enveloped in a plastic ball and mounted on the wooden plaque along with the Colombian flag, which had been taken to the Moon and back by the crew of Apollo 17. The wooden plaque display was then distributed in 1973 by President Richard Nixon to the country of Colombia as he did that year to all the countries of the world and all the states of the United States (the same as for the Apollo 11 plaque display gifts). This was done as a goodwill gesture to promote peace and harmony.[2]
History
Misael Pastrana Borrero, as President of Colombia between 1970 and 1974, received from United States President Richard Nixon both lunar sample displays that he kept on his desk at the Casa de Nariño. Allegedly believing that the displays were a personal gift, Pastrana kept the moon rocks after the end of his presidential term as interior decoration in the living room of his private house in Bogotá, Colombia.[3]
It was not until 1985 when journalist Daniel Samper Pizano, in search of the thought to be missing lunar displays, embarked on a mission that included contacting the Embassy of the United States in Bogotá that confirmed that the displays were in fact not a personal gift to the then President Pastrana but rather to all people of Colombia.[4] Having received this information, Samper published an article with the allegation that Pastrana had stolen the lunar displays prompting Juan Carlos Pastrana, son of Misael Pastrana Borrero, to pass the displays to the Bogotá Planetarium.[5]
Since their return to public hands, the lunar sample displays remained in secured storage within the Bogotá Planetarium until 2003 when they were displayed for the first time to the public as part of the planetarium's permanent collection.[6]
External links
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References
- ^ a b c Pearlman, Robert (1999–2012). "Where today are the Apollo 11 goodwill lunar sample displays?". collectspace.com. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
- ^ a b Pearlman, Robert (1999–2012). "Where today are the Apollo 17 goodwill lunar sample displays". collectspace.com. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
- ^ "Alrededor de la luna". 21 August 2019.
- ^ "La historia detrás de piedras lunares donadas a Colombia por gobierno de EE.UU". 18 July 2019.
- ^ "El enigma de las rocas lunares desaparecidas". 20 February 2012.
- ^ "Rocas Lunares en el Planetario". 11 November 2003.