Moon rocks from Apollo 11 landing found in Minn.

[unhappycamper]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20121127/AP09/311279995#moon-rocks-from-apollo-11-landing-found-in-minn

Moon rocks from Apollo 11 landing found in Minn.
Published Tuesday, November 27, 2012 at 12:01 am / Updated at 6:36 pm

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Houston, we have moon rocks.

The Minnesota National Guard said Monday it found a few small fragments of the moon's surface in storage in a state building in St. Paul. They'll be turned over to the state Historical Society on Wednesday.

The moon rocks came from the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the moon. Some of the rocks, pebbles and dirt they collected have gone missing after U.S. states and territories and 135 countries each got tiny samples encased in plastic. Authentic moon rocks are considered national treasures and can't legally be sold in the U.S.

~snip~

Joseph Gutheinz, a University of Phoenix instructor and former NASA investigator who leads an effort to find missing moon rocks, said Minnesota's discovery leaves 11 states, including Massachusetts, Texas and Wisconsin, missing their Apollo 11 moon rocks.

[drm604]

1. How does something like this go missing?

Isn't it some of the most valuable material on the planet? Who misplaces gold?

[unhappycamper]

2. Moon rocks would look nice in your foyer, no?

Or you could have them in a special place in your vault to impress your peers.

[drm604]

3. Yes, but these weren't stolen.

They were in storage in a state building.

Maybe at the time they felt that they didn't have the resources to safely display them in public, then people retired and they were forgotten.

[TrogL]

4. You obviously haven't worked in government

Governments have lost buildings and fleets of cars. A few rocks is nothing.

[Posteritatis]

6. Fleets of cars? I wouldn't be surprised if they lost fleets of fleets. (nt)

[snort]

5. Can't legally be sold?

So much for that nest egg.

[preventivePhD]

7. Did one hit Michele Bachmann on the head?

When anything nutty happens in Minnesota, I naturally think her. I admit there's probably no connection.

[MineralMan]

8. Back when I was in the mineral specimen business and went to

major mineral shows, where international dealers all showed up to buy and sell, there were always rumors of moon rocks being bought and sold. I didn't move in the circles where that might have happened, but the rumors were always there.