Res Communis

Investigation on Missing Moon Rocks

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

From Red Orbit:

Missing Moon Rocks Lead To Investigation
Posted on: Monday, 14 September 2009, 11:05 CDT

Last month, officials with the Netherlands’ national museum reported that it had been holding a piece of petrified wood, which had been mistaken for a piece of rubble from the surface of the moon.

The announcement sparked an investigation, being led by the Associated Press, to recover the whereabouts of about 270 moon rocks.

The rocks were collected by US astronauts and distributed to other countries as international gifts from the Nixon administration. But since then, many of the rare stones have gone off the radar.

NASA still holds the larger share of the moon rock collection. It has kept the majority of 842 lbs, while smaller and mid-sized rocks are given away to other countries and museums. . . .[Full Story]