Baton Rouge: Louisiana has restored the moonstone lost talented to the state to commemorate the last manned as the month after appearing in the hands of a man who recycled wooden plaque.
Rock from the landing of Apollo 17 of 1972 was in the ownership of the Louisiana State Museum on Tuesday, Baton Rouge advisors reported.
It was returned to the country late last year by a Florida man who plans to use wood from plaques that hold him to repair the gun, according to the newspaper.
But the recovery was not revealed until Monday when a journalist and historian, Robert Plearl, reported it in the CollectSpace online publication, advocate said.
“As you can appreciate, I’m just happy that it’s here now,” said the Interim Museum of Director Steven Maklance.
The moon fragment is one of the hundreds presented to the countries, regions and foreign countries at the beginning until the mid-1970s by the administration of former President Richard Nixon.
They included samples taken by Neil Armstrong and Apollo 11 crew during the first month’s landing in 1969.
But many of them were then lost.
Louisiana also has Apollo 11 stones that are considered lost, but the advocate found it in storage at the Museum of Arts and Science Louisiana.
How or when Apollo 17 Rock is missing unclear.
It was wrapped in acrylic balls attached to wood plaques with a miniature replica of the country flag and inscription.
The Florida man who found him told Pearlman that he was likely to buy plaque in a garage place at several points in the last 15 years.
He had collected old plaques to use wood to update shares in his weapon, and recently found this in his collection.
Pearlman said the man did not want to be identified.
Maklance said the museum still planned to review its authenticity, but officials had not yet decided what steps they would take.