Long-lost moon rock to be put on display at presidential palace

Outgoing US ambassador to Cyprus Judith Garber on Friday presented House President Annita Demetriou with a lunar sample collected 50 years ago during the United States’ Apollo 17 mission.

The rock was only recently returned to Cyprus after being missing for half a century.

The sample, dubbed the “Goodwill Moon Rock” has quite an interesting background. It was originally slated for Cyprus, after the United States gifted 135 nations of the world each an Apollo 11 and a 17 Moon Rock.

However, it had remained missing for decades. Instead of being given to the Cyprus government in 1974, it somehow ended up for sale on the black market in 2003.

The would-be seller was a US diplomat’s relative, who reportedly took the sample with him when the US ambassador to Cyprus was assassinated on August 19, 1974 and the US embassy building was vacated. The rock was worth approximately $5 million on the black market.

Over the years, it was believed by both Cyprus and the United States that the moon rock was gifted and either destroyed in a fire or stolen. However, it emerged that it was actually kept by a relative of a diplomat working at the US embassy, who brought it back to his country.

As reported by Ekathimerini, former Nasa investigator Joseph Gutheinz managed to track down the rock around 2009

He then put pressure on the individual who was unlawfully in possession of the sample and convinced him to return it to Nasa after a negotiation process that lasted five months. Since then, the “Goodwill Moon Rock” was kept inside a vault at the organisation’s headquarters.

This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 17 mission, as well as the first anniversary of the Artemis Mission, which was launched in November 2022 with the aim to return to lunar exploration that had initially started with the Apollo missions.

“We have the moon rock, which we feel is perfect timing because it’s 50 years after it was brought to Earth,” the president of the Cyprus Space Exploration Organisation (CSEO) George Danos told media outlet Ekathimerini.

“This fragment is a portion of a rock from the Taurus Littrow valley of the Moon. It is given as a symbol of the unity of human endeavour and carries with it the hope of the American people for a world at peace.

Danos’ words echoed the words of Apollo 17 astronaut Eugene Cernan, who said the rock would be a “symbol of what our feelings are, what the feelings of the Apollo program are, and a symbol of mankind, that we can live in peace and harmony in the future.”

The moon rock was also on public display at the Home for Cooperation in Nicosia’s buffer zone on December 14 and 15, as part of the ‘Under One Sky’:  Messages to the Moon’ exhibition organised by the CSEO.

Demetriou also welcomed the return of the lunar sample to Cyprus during Garber’s send-off ceremony.

“It is with feelings of gratitude and sincere appreciation that we receive today from the US government a geological sample of the Moon collected during the Apollo 17 lunar mission of 1972,” she said.

“This particular lunar sample, mounted on a wooden plaque above a flag of the Republic of Cyprus will be permanently and proudly displayed in the presidential palace and will serve as another token of the strong bonds that unite and characterise our two countries and people.

“In 1969, when landing on the moon, US astronaut famously proclaimed: ‘That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.’

“I have the sense that the Cyprus-US relations have taken giant leaps in the recent years, and these giant leaps were possible by making small steps each time, day by day, month by month. Today’s occasion is just another example of a step closer towards the enhancement of our bilateral relations,” Demetriou added.

She finally thanked Garber for her years serving as the US ambassador to Cyprus.

“My most heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for all that you have achieved during your tenure here and at the same time convey our warmest wishes for every success in your future endeavours.

“We are all sad that you are leaving. Nevertheless, friends are always welcome back home, to Cyprus,” Demetriou concluded.