US News & World Report is reporting that the Alaska Transportation Museum has reclaimed a display of moon rocks that went missing after an arson fire in 1973. These moon rocks served as a central part of the international celebration when the Apollo XI astronauts returned to earth, because as the article notes,
Nixon believed it took an effort by the entire world to put a man on the moon, and he gave moon rocks collected by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldren to every state and country…
The story behind the rocks’ salvage is as controversial as it is unclear, but read all about it.
Jimmy Byron is a Communications and Marketing Assistant at the Richard Nixon Foundation. He is a second-year student at Chapman University.