Boing Boing

Boing Boing

Nixon gave Spain moon rocks from Apollo 11. Spain lost them.

Ellsworth Toohey
Jun 29, 2026
∙ Paid

Spain Apollo 11 lunar sample missing Franco — Rupert Colley / CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

After Apollo 11 in 1969, President Nixon had 250 commemorative plaques made, each containing about 50 milligrams of lunar dust — roughly four rice-sized particles — mounted in acrylic plastic alongside the recipient nation’s flag, which had traveled to the moon an…

User's avatar

Continue reading this post for free, courtesy of Boing Boing.

Or purchase a paid subscription.
© 2026 Happy Mutants LLC · Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture