Did you know that there are missing moon rocks? Seriously. Yesterday I read this article in the Sacramento Bee about how some moon rocks from Apollo 11 mysteriously turned up in a storage room in Minnesota.
My cousin said it best, “Well this is a little ridiculous. Who misplaces moon rocks?”
Apparently, 11 other states can’t find their moon rocks either. What I didn’t know is that there were rocks brought back from the Apollo 11 mission and the Apollo 17 mission. Yes, I’m a bad American. I should know those things.
But, I have Google, so I can learn that which I do not know…except when I can’t really find it. I found this site called Collect Space that lists the Apollo 17 and the Apollo 11 rocks and their known locations across the planet. Of course, since it’s not an official NASA sanctioned page, I tend to have my doubts about the authenticity of the information, but it’s not Wikipedia, so I guess I’ll allow it.
What did I learn through my reading? No one is allowed to sell moon rocks in the United States. At least, that’s what the AP article said. This article in the Star Tribune shocked me and I sort of want to see this guy’s research:
Iffert said his research found that most moon rocks from the Apollo 11 and 17 missions that were given out by Nixon as goodwill gestures are unaccounted for.
Most of the rocks are missing?!? That’s a tragedy if it’s true. Why can’t we keep track of our moon rocks, America? Can’t we get organized and set up a filing system?
When I tried to find where California’s moon rock is currently located, I found out that some lady tried to sell a moon rock last year. They met in a Denny’s. Denny’s! Everyone knows if you want to sell a moon rock, you’ve got to go to a Johnny Rockets.