+ 1970 News Releases (7.6 Mb PDF file) - NASA

N,,FIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
MANNEDSPACECRAFT ,Houson
C'E NTER,,ddrlillfJilaBl ..Texas
483-5111 70-77
July 1, 1970
The NASA Manned Spacecraft Center has been informed
that a fragment of Apolle 11 lunar material, weighing less than
an ounce, is missing frcm the laboratories at the Goddard
Space Flight Center.
The sample was reported missing by Dr. Nicholas M. Short
of GSFC, one of the scientists assigned lunar material from
Apollo 11. The sample was among several circulated within a
group of scientists studying the effect of shock waves in lunar
material.
Dr. Short reported to MSC that he inventoried his lunar
samoles last week and it was then that be found this particular
sample missing. Dr. Short was preparing to return the samples
to the sample curator at MSC. I-[e last inventoried this particular
sample late in February, MSC officials report.
The missing sample, about one-fourth inch in length and
weighing . 02 ounce_ was part of a one pound fine grained gray
rock (sample 10020) returned by the Apollo 11 crew. It was
subsequently sub-divided and this fragment was examined by other
scientists, before Dr. Short received it.
NASA officialsare conducting an investigation into the circumstances
surrounding the missing sample.
This is the second lunar specimen reported missing by a
scientist. Late in January a University of California at Los Angeles
scientist reported one of his sample specimens missing during a
public display. It was subsequently returned to NASA.
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