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Article: In Malta, a moon-rock caper; "I would not be surprised if half of those 135 moon rocks have been stolen, or lost, or are now in a position where they could be stolen."- Joseph Gutheinz, retired NASA investigator.(FEATURES)(PLANET)
- Article from:
- The Christian Science Monitor
- Article date:
- June 17, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Christian Science Publishing Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Mark Clayton Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Sam Spade unraveled the mystery of the Maltese Falcon. Now his nonfictional alter ego is snooping into a real treasure-gone-missing caper: the Maltese moon rock.
Only about the size of a pea, the dull-gray specimen was plucked from the lunar surface by Apollo astronauts, embedded in a clear acrylic ball, and given to Malta. Last month, the acrylic ball and rare rock inside it disappeared from its display in a Mdina museum.
Malta's lunar larceny fits a global trend, some experts say. In 1973, President Nixon gave nearly identical moon-rock fragments as "goodwill" gifts to 135 ...