material. The samples were recovered, and NASA estimated their value during the ensuing court case at about $1 million for of material. Naturally transported Moon rocks in the form of lunar meteorites are sold and traded among private collectors. Goodwill Moon rocks Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt picked up a rock "composed of many fragments, of many sizes, and many shapes, probably from all parts of the Moon". This rock was later labeled sample 70017. President Nixon ordered that fragments of that rock should be distributed in 1973 to all 50 US states and 135 foreign heads of state. The fragments were presented encased in an acrylic sphere, mounted on a wood plaque which included the recipients' flag which had also flown aboard Apollo 17. Many of the presentation Moon rocks are now unaccounted for, having been stolen or lost. Discoveries Three minerals were discovered from the Moon: armalcolite, tranquillityite, and pyroxferroite. Armalcolite was named for the three astronauts on the Apollo 11 mission: Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins. Stolen and missing Moon rocks Because of their rarity on Earth, and the difficulty of obtaining more, Moon rocks have been frequent targets of theft and vandalism, and many have gone missing or were stolen. Gallery See also Sample-return mission Bench Crater meteorite Geology of the Moon Hadley Rille meteorite Helium-3 List of Apollo lunar sample displays Lunar ice Lunar Receiving Laboratory Lunar regolith simulant Lunar resources Lunar soil References Citations General sources Paul D. Spudis, The Once and Future Moon, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1996, . External links Rocks & Soils from the Moon—Johnson Space Center Apollo Geology Tool Catalog Lunar meteorites —Washington University, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Lunar Samples Lunar and Planetary Institute Articles about Moon rocks in Planetary Science Research Discoveries educational journal Where Today are the Apollo 11 Lunar Sample Displays? collectSPACE Where Today are the Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rocks? collectSPACE Kentucky's lunar sample displays in the Kentucky Historical Society objects catalog: Apollo 11, Apollo 17 Apollo program Extraterrestrial rocks Igneous rocks Lunar science Petrology