A small moon rock sent as a gift by the US in the early 1970s finally arrived in Cyprus after a delay of almost five decades.
The little moon rock, weighing 1.1 grams, was brought to Earth in 1972 by the astronauts of Apollo 17, the last US landing mission to date.
"We have finally obtained the lunar rock and we believe it is perfect timing as this year marks 50 years since its transfer to Earth," astronomer George Danos, president of the Cyprus Space Exploration Organization (CSEO), told the Associated Press.
Sealed in a plastic hemisphere, the stone is to be officially delivered to Cyprus during a ceremony at the presidential palace on December 16, three days before the 50th anniversary of Apollo 17's return on December 19, 1972.
But since last Thursday, the acquisition has been starring in a CSEO exhibition in Nicosia to mark the 50th anniversary. The exhibit plaque reads "This fragment is a rock fragment from the Taurus Littrow Plain of the Moon. It is donated as a symbol of unity and conveys the hope of the American people for a peaceful world."
The fragment is one of 270 lunar specimens that the Nixon administration had donated to various countries.
It was taken to Cyprus but disappeared shortly after the Turkish invasion in 1974, the year US Ambassador to Cyprus Roger Davis was assassinated.
Joseph Guthaines of the University of Arizona, who previously worked for NASA tracking missing lunar specimens, told the AP that the shard had been in the possession for decades of a relative of an American diplomat who was working in 1974 at the U.S. Embassy in Nicosia.
Guthaines said that in 2019 he put pressure on the holder to "do the right thing" and return the specimen to NASA, which he did five months later.
The specimen is now being returned to Cyprus after mediation by Mr.
Source: in.gr
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