Astronauts collected the 3.9 billion year old rock from the Moon in 1972.
At the request of the new administration, the 3.9 billion-year-old moonstone was on display in the Oval Office on Joe Biden’s inauguration day. This rock was sent by NASA to the White House from the Moon Specimen Laboratory at Johnson Space Center, Houston.
According to information on the NASA website, the loan of the Moon Stone to the White House represents “recognition of the ambitions and achievements of the previous generation, and also supports the path of conquering the Moon and Mars. . America now ”.
The moonstone 76015,143 is housed in a protective glass box, accompanied by a panel that annotates its history. This is a stone collected during the mission to bring humans to the last moon in 1972 – Apollo 17.
“Astronauts Ronald Evans, Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan, who last landed on the Moon, took this rock from a large rock at the base of the North Massif, located in the Taurus-Littrow Valley, in the deviation from the ship’s modulus. Landing about 2 km away, ”NASA announced on the organization’s website.
The rock weighs 332 grams, is 3.9 billion years old, and was formed as a result of a collision event up to 1,145 km in diameter – Imbrium Impact Basin.
However, Mr. Biden was not the first person to request moonstones to be displayed in the Oval Office. On the 30th anniversary of the first person to set foot on the moon, members of the Apollo 11 mission, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, visited then-President Bill Clinton and the NASA representatives. The White House borrows 10057.30 moon rocks.
