It took 50 years, however a moon rock supposed as a goodwill present from the USA to the folks of Cyprus is lastly being introduced to the east Mediterranean island nation.
The lunar pattern, encased in an acrylic ball and mounted to a picket plaque, will probably be officially handed over during a ceremony (opens in new tab) on the presidential palace in Nicosia on Friday (Dec. 16). To rejoice the event, the U.S. Embassy organized for the moon rock to be displayed by the Cyprus Area Exploration Group (CSEO) as a part of an exhibit open through Sunday (opens in new tab) (Dec. 18).
“We really feel [it] is ideal timing as a result of it is 50 years after it was delivered to Earth,” mentioned George Danos, CSEO president, in an interview with the Associated Press (opens in new tab).
Associated: Where are the Apollo moon samples now?
On Dec. 13, 1972, as their third and final moonwalk was coming to its finish, Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt paused in entrance of the TV digicam to dedicate a 6.5-pound (3 kilograms) moon rock as a goodwill gift to the world (opens in new tab). Upon its return to Earth, the rock was divided into 200 or so items, every weighing 0.04 ounces (1.142 grams), to be introduced to 135 international locations, the 50 U.S. states and the U.S. territories.
It was the second and final time that the U.S. gave away Apollo-recovered lunar material (opens in new tab). Every of the Apollo 17 goodwill moon rocks was introduced on a plaque with a flag of the recipient nation or state that was flown on the mission. A plate included with the show learn, partly, that the lunar pattern was “given as an emblem of the unity of the human endeavor and carries the hope of the American folks for a world of peace.”
Sadly, the scenario in Cyprus on the time was something however peaceable. The president of the nation, who the embassy deliberate to current the moon rock to in 1973, was ousted in a coup. A yr later, the U.S. ambassador was assassinated and the embassy was evacuated.
“We don’t assume we must always proceed to attempt to thrust upon Cypriots one thing which they aren’t eager about receiving,” the embassy’s workers wrote in a telegram to the U.S. State Division in April of 1974. “In [the] tortured politics of this little island, [the] authorities may properly desire to not be related to the truth that it was a Cypriot flag which Apollo 17 delivered to the moon (opens in new tab).”
That may have been the top of it, had the diplomat entrusted with the plaque turned it again in to the State Division or NASA. As an alternative, for causes which might be nonetheless not clear, he held onto it for the remainder of his life. In 1996, his son discovered the moon rock amongst his the possessions of his late father in a storage locker in Virginia.
After realizing what it was he had, the son reached out to a space memorabilia seller for assist in making an attempt to promote the moon rock. That inquiry led to the NASA Workplace of Inspector Common (OIG) — the unbiased investigation arm of the space company — being alerted, however it nonetheless took a couple of extra years and a media marketing campaign for the OIG to take motion after which much more time for the son to agree to show it over in return for immunity from prosecution.
Even then, it was nonetheless one other decade earlier than the State Division delivered the moon rock to Cyprus for its long-delayed presentation.
Disclosure: collectSPACE.com and considered one of its contributing writers, Joseph Gutheinz, a College of Arizona teacher and a former OIG investigator, had been concerned to find and reporting the moon rock to NASA and urging for its supply to Cyprus.
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