In November 1969, then-U.S. President Richard Nixon requested that NASA create approximately 250 displays containing lunar surface material and the flags of 135 nations, U.S. possessions and states.
Each presentation included 0.05 grams of Apollo 11 moon dust, in the form of four small pieces encased in an acrylic button, as well as the flag of the recipient nation or state, also flown on the first manned lunar landing mission.
The displays that were presented to foreign heads of state included the inscription:
Presented to the People of ____________ by Richard Nixon, President of the United States of America.
This Flag of Your Nation was Carried to the Moon and Back by Apollo 11 and This Fragment of the Moon's Surface was Brought to Earth by the Crew of That First Manned Lunar Landing.
(With exception to the plaque for Venezuela: it was discovered that the nation's flag was not flown aboard the Apollo 11 spacecraft. Instead, a flag carried on Apollo 12 was used with the wording: "This flag of your nation was carried to the moon and back, and this fragment of the moon's surface was brought to Earth by the crew of the first manned lunar landing.")
Once gifted, each of the lunar sample displays became the property of the recepient entity and therefore was no longer subject to being tracked by NASA. All other lunar samples' locations are well documented by the U.S. space agency to this day (with exception to similarly gifted Apollo 17 goodwill moon rocks).
As property of the nation or state, the Apollo 11 lunar samples are now subject to the laws for public gifts as set by that country. In most cases, as in the United States, public gifts cannot be legally transferred to individual ownership without the passage of additional legislation.
Since 2005, collectSPACE has attempted to locate the current whereabouts of all the Apollo 11 lunar sample displays. The following chart details those efforts.
Special gratitude is extended to former NASA Office of Inspector General special agent Joseph Gutheinz, who today as a professor at the University of Phoenix, Arizona, has challenged his students to locate the displays.
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Andorra
Australia
National Archives of Australia, Canberra; On display as part of "Out of This World: Australia in the Space Age" exhibit through March 2021; after to be conserved in archives
K. Dougherty
C. Donnelly
Barbados
Belgium
On display at the Royal Palace of Brussels from July 23 through Aug. 25, 2019, as part of the exhibition "The Moon: Between Dream and Reality" (on loan from the Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences in Brussels)
T. Sterling/
Associated Press
S. Sebile
Bhutan
Bolivia
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burma
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Central African Republic
Chad
China
Congo (Brazzaville)
Congo (Kinshasa)
Cuba
Cyprus
Dahomey
Denmark
Geological Museum, Natural History Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen
L. Aagaard/
Berlingske
Ecuador
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Ethiopia
Gabon
Gambia
Ghana
Guatemala
Held by the Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte (Ministry of Culture and Sport), Guatemala City
J. Cabrera
H. Ram�rez
Guinea
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hungary
Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum (Hungarian Natural History Museum), Budapest
E. Ray
M. Janosi
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Accidentally discarded after an Oct. 3, 1977 fire destroyed the Meridian room at Dunsink Observatory, Dublin, where it had been on display. Now among the rubble at the Finglas landfill (dump).
C. Luff
Israel
Italy
Museo Centrale del Risorgimento, Istituto per la Storia del Risorgimento Italiano, Rome
N. Del Monaco
Ivory Coast
Jamaica
Jordan
Kenya
Korea
National Museum of Korea, Seoul
Kuwait
Laos
"Haw Kham" Royal Palace Museum, Luang Prabang
T. Brattstrom
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Liechtenstein
On public display in the exhibition "The Principality, the World and Outer Space" at the Treasure Chamber of the Principality of Liechtenstein, Vaduz
A. Stammherr
Madagascar
Malawi
Maldive Islands
National Museum, Sultan Park, Malé
K. MacTaggart
Mali
Malta
Monaco
Mongolia
Morocco
Muscat and Oman
Nauru
New Zealand
Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington
Nicaragua
Purchased (under questionable circumstances) by Las Vegas casino owner Bob Stupak in November 1987 for 10,000ドル and 200,000 shares of stock. Three years after his death, the display was returned by his attorney Richard Wright to the people of Nicaragua in November 2012, by way of NASA.
J.L. Smith/
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Photo credit: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Niger
Nigeria
Norway
Museum of Natural History and Archaeology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim
G. Haugnes/
Aftenposten
Pakistan
Paraguay
Instituto de Historia y Museo Militar, Asunción
J. Russo
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Olsztyńskie Planetarium i Obserwatorium Astronomiczne, Olsztyn (additional reference from the Science in Poland, Ministry of Science and Higher Education)
T. Sterling/
M. Scislowska/
Associated Press
D. Zapolski
Photo: A. S. Pilski
Portugal
Rwanda
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Somalia
South Africa
On display in the old Cape Colony Parliament building, Parliament, Cape Town
K. Gottschalk
Photo: C. Huegel
Southern Yemen
Spain
Sudan
Swaziland
Sweden
Reported stolen from Naturhistoriska riksmuseet (National Museum of Natural History) in Stockholm in 2002
J. Persson
Syria
Taiwan
On public display from June 26 through Dec. 8, 2019 as part of the special exhibition "Space Pioneer: Moon Landing 50th Anniversary" at the Taipei Astronomical Museum; previously at the National Museum of Natural Science, Taichung
G. McGough
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
United Arab Republic
Upper Volta
Uruguay
Previously on display at the Planetarium of Montevideo; moved in 2011 to the Captain Boiso Lanza Air Base for safe keeping.
C. Alustiza
Venezuela
Vietnam
Western Samoa
Yemen
Yugoslavia
Museum of Yugoslav History, Muzej 25 Maj (Museum of the 25th of May), Belgrad, Serbia
J. Igor
T. Sterling/
Associated Press
Zambia
United Nations
Alaska
Transferred to the Transportation Branch of the Alaska State Museum (Alaska Transportation Museum), Anchorage, where it was on display when a 1973 fire tore through the museum. Claimed as found among the debris by Arthur Coleman Anderson, 17, and removed as a "neat souvenir."
In December 2010, Anderson filed suit (PDF) against the State of Alaska to declare him the owner of the rock or to compensate him for care of the moon rock since 1973.
In August 2012, in compliance with a court order, Anderson turned over the display to NASA for "verification and safekeeping until eventual ownership is established." In September 2012, Anderson surrendered the display to the state of Alaska.
As of December 2012, on display at the Alaska State Museum in Juneau.
Arizona
Currently in safekeeping by the Arizona Historical Society while the Arizona Mining and Minerals Museum, Phoenix becomes part of the new Arizona Centennial Museum.
A. Nystrom
M. Barkley
Colorado
On display in Mr. Brown's Attic Museum between the third floor and dome of the Colorado State Capitol (as of May 2025).
Previously, removed from display in the Capitol in July 2010 and placed into storage while a secure exhibit was devised.
R. Griffis
M. Polner
Delaware
"...stolen [in 1977] right off the plaque" per Ann Baker Horsey, Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs
L. Marianiello
P. George/DFM News
Hawaii
Rediscovered after a routine inventory of gifts inside a cabinet in the Executive Chambers on the fifth floor of the Hawai'i State Capitol, Honolulu
J. Gutheinz
W. Hoover/ Honolulu Advertiser
Louisiana
Louisiana Art & Science Museum, Baton Rouge (in storage)
"...at some point the moon rocks were removed from their original mounting... Museum officials recently restored the rocks to their original plaque and hope to have them back on view" for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission.
G. Toohey/The Advocate
Minnesota
Found amongst military artifacts in a storage area at the Veterans Service Building in St. Paul; transferred by the Minnesota National Guard to the Minnesota Historical Society (as of Nov. 28, 2012).
Photo: Minnesota Historical Society
Nebraska
Lost in the governor's mansion for a number of years. Found by Diane Nelson, former Gov. Ben Nelson's wife, as the mansion was undergoing renovations.
Now on public display at the Ralph Mueller Planetarium at the University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln.
R. Dunn
New Jersey
New Jersey State Museum, Trenton (wooden podium display with the New Jersey flag held in storage)
New York
North Dakota
P. Depweg
R. Dates
S. Silengo and
M. Halvorson/
Historical Society
Pennsylvania
Planetarium, The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg
M. Wilkins
Photo: D. Gleiter/The Patriot News
Tennessee
Tennessee State Museum, Nashville; on display as part of the Tennessee Transforms exhibition.
J. Smart
J. Murphy
Virginia
The Library of Virginia, Richmond (on temporary display)
Previously exhibited in the Capitol
M. Townes
West Virginia
On display on the upper leve of the West Virginia State Museum at The Culture Center, Charleston
E. Velez
District of Columbia
District of Columbia Office of Public Records and Archives (in storage)
R. Katz
Virgin Islands
