Moon Rock

These four small samples of rock from the Moon were brought to Earth by the crew of Apollo 11, the first peopled lunar landing mission. The Moon landing took place on 20 July 1969 in the Sea of Tranquility, and the crew returned to Earth on 24 July 1969. The samples, and a small New Zealand flag which was carried to the Moon and back by the mission, were presented to the people of New Zealand by the President of the United States of America, Richard M. Nixon. 135 countries received such a gift.

The inscription on the plinth reads: 'Presented to the People of New Zealand 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'.

Apollo 11

The crew of Apollo 11 were Neil Armstrong (commander), Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin (Eagle lunar module pilot), and Michael Collins (command module pilot who stayed on board). The prime mission objective was to ‘perform a manned lunar landing and return’. A plaque on the leg of the lunar landing vehicle stated: ‘Here men from the planet earth first set foot upon the moon July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind’.

They brought back the first samples from another planetary body (which weren’t meteorites) - about 21.7 kg in total. They were basalts, igneous rocks, about 3.7 billion years old. The astronauts retrieved the samples using hammers, rakes, scoops, tongs and core tubes. Their space suits were stiff and unwieldy, so tongs were necessary.

Commemorative medallions were left on the moon’s surface as a tribute to astronauts and cosmonauts who lost their lives prior to Apollo 11. A one-and-a-half inch silicone disk was also left on the moon, etched with micro miniaturized goodwill messages from 73 countries around the world, and statements from Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. The message from New Zealand was: ‘By this flight man has finally fulfilled the great ambition of setting foot on another celestial body. As Prime Minister of New Zealand I hope that the realization of this dream – so long remote – will inspire all those who set their sights high and thus bring closer the dreams we share of peace and cooperation for all mankind. Keith J. Holyoake’.

In New Zealand

There was no direct satellite feed in New Zealand, so Kiwis were glued to their radios as Armstrong made his ‘small step’ onto the surface of the Moon. They relied on footage being flown from Australia, where there was a direct feed, and were able to watch the film four and a half hours later, at about 7:30pm on July 21.

This Moon rock was presented by United States Vice-President Spiro Agnew to Prime Minister Keith Holyoake at a state banquet held in Auckland on 15 January 1970. The Moon rock was displayed in Auckland Museum for several months during 1970, and then toured several venues in the South Island during 1971, then in the North Island during 1972. It finally came to its permanent home at the national museum in late 1972.

Context of gift

US Vice-President Spiro Agnew’s three-day visit to New Zealand on 15-18 January 1970 sparked some of the most violent anti-Vietnam War demonstrations seen in this country. On the night of the state banquet (15 January 1970), an estimated 500 protesters demonstrated outside the Hotel Intercontinental in Auckland with scuffles breaking out between protesters and police. New Zealand was Agnew’s his last stop on a goodwill tour of Pacific and Asian countries. He was accompanied by Apollo 10 astronaut Eugene Cernan, who was later to become the last man to walk on the moon in 1972 on the Apollo 17 mission.

References: https://history.nasa.gov/ap11-35ann/goodwill/Apollo_11_material.pdf; https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo11.html