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| Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski's ceremonial office in the state Capitol has this display of moon rocks collected by the Apollo 11 astronauts in 1969. (Photos courtesy of Suzanne Hubert) |
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2/19/2010 11:35:00 AM
Search for the "missing" Apollo 11 moon rocks
By Toni Dowdell
Multimedia Sales and Marketing Representative
Please call me Inspector Dowdell. I am officially a seasoned investigator and will be going down in the history books as such. Not because I found Al Capone's vault or discovered who killed JFK. I just did what my professor told me to do - I found some rocks.
Rocks? Really? Is that all it takes to become a part of history? These rocks traveled 238,900 miles only to be lost for 40 years. Lost may not be the best way to describe the rocks. Maybe I should say misplaced. The people that had them knew where they were. The people that wanted to keep track of them did not. That's where I came in. I found the Oregon Apollo 11 Moon Rocks.
Picture CSI, but not so glamorous. OK, it was nothing like CSI but I did find rocks that are worth millions of dollars, are very rare and are a huge part of history. That's a big deal for a graduate student at the University of Phoenix.
The Apollo 11 Moon Rocks came to Earth with astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin after the first moon landing in world history. On July 20, 1969, these two pioneers embarked on a trip into unknown territory and became the first men to walk on the moon. Their spacecraft was the Apollo 11, and their mission was to collect lunar samples, photograph the moon's surface and return to earth safely. The mission was a success.
Shortly after the astronauts returned, President Richard Nixon asked NASA to create 250 acrylic, button-like displays containing four particles of moon rock weighing .05 grams each. Accompanying the moon rock displays were the flags of 135 nations, U.S. possessions and states, which were flown on the first manned lunar mission to the moon. President Nixon then gave the plaques containing the rocks, flags and a unique inscription to each government as a goodwill gesture.
After the moon rocks were gifted, NASA did not keep track of where the rocks went, as they were no longer considered property of NASA. This was also the case with the Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rocks. However, all other lunar samples have been well documented by the U.S. space agency.
In 2002, Joseph Gutheinz Jr., a professor at the University of Phoenix and the former NASA Office of Inspector General senior special agent who led Operation Lunar Eclipse, began charging his criminal justice students with the task of locating the missing rocks. The goal of this project is to teach students investigation techniques.
Gutheinz explains his idea for the project. "In 2002 when I began teaching for the University of Phoenix I wanted to offer my graduate students an opportunity to conduct a real world investigation that would have value, while at the same time being safe for them to conduct."
Because the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 moon rocks were not tracked, many have been lost, misplaced, destroyed or even stolen over the years. Some of these rocks, such as the Honduras Goodwill Moon Rock, have even been the subject of undercover law enforcement sting operations. In 1998, the Honduras Goodwill Moon Rock was recovered in Operation Lunar Eclipse after it had been offered for sale for $5 million.
My academic team was assigned the Oregon Apollo 11, Oregon Apollo 17 Goodwill and the Louisiana Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rocks. Each of us took different avenues to find the rocks and often times came up empty handed. Members of my team had conversations with government employees, museum curators, university professors and numerous office people that represented the "important people." Little bits of helpful information and lots of dead ends gave way to determination and perseverance. We were often met with unreturned phone calls or disgruntled employees who had already explained to previous students that no one knew where the rocks were. We were not going to give up hope.
"I was very frustrated toward the end and did think about just calling it quits on the search until you said you might have found the Oregon rocks, which made me continue to call the contacts back in Louisiana I had yet to hear from," my teammate, Shannon Armstrong, said of how she felt about the experience. "I was amazed by how many people in both Louisiana and Oregon actually said they knew nothing about these gifts yet they are working in high positions such as Directors or Curators in Museums or even staff of the Governors offices."
This project was more difficult than we expected. While following a lead on the Apollo 17 rocks I stumbled upon the Apollo 11 rocks. Lori Erickson, curator of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, gave me a tip. She thought there was a set of rocks at the Oregon governor's office.
I called the Oregon state Capitol and was met with an unapologetic operator who was not impressed to be talking to me. I explained who I was and what I was looking for. Her mood changed instantly. She became more than happy to talk to me.
"Oh yeah it's in the governor's office," she said. "We look at it all the time."
I was stunned. For 40 years, NASA and moon rock enthusiasts had no idea where these rocks were and they had been sitting on the desk in the governor's ceremonial office the whole time.
Suzanne Hubert, an assistant in Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski's office, became my point of contact for the rocks. She was more than willing to help my team with this project. She immediately e-mailed me pictures so my professor could confirm they were indeed the rocks we were looking for. I had found them!
"The display is a source of intrigue and wonder for many visitors to the Oregon State Capitol - especially the school children who come with their classmates on field trips," Hubert said.
Finding the rocks has been exciting and rewarding. Being a graduate student in the criminal justice program, I am taught numerous investigation techniques but because I do not work in the criminal justice field, I have had little opportunity to put them to good use. That all changed for me this semester.
Some might say the rocks were not really lost. I like to say they were being held for safekeeping, waiting for a criminal justice student to find them so they could earn her an A.
You never know what might be hiding in plain sight.
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Posted: Saturday, February 20, 2010
Article comment by:
Sherry Miller
Great Job Toni , I enjoyed your reading your work !!!
Love Mom
Posted: Saturday, February 20, 2010
Article comment by:
Shannon Armstrong
You did an AWESOME job on this Toni!!! Congrats!
Posted: Friday, February 19, 2010
Article comment by:
Brian VanPortfleet
Great Job! I can't even find my shoes in the morning... oh wait, there they are behind my motivation. Nice work Toni!
Posted: Friday, February 19, 2010
Article comment by:
Toni Dowdell
Thank you all!
Professor Gutheinz, I feel honored to have earned this praise from you. I had a good mentor here at The Daily News. It is very different writing an article for a paper compared to an academic paper.
Posted: Friday, February 19, 2010
Article comment by:
Gena Corwin
Great Article Toni!! You deserve an A!!! Maybe You can go work for Daddy :)
Posted: Friday, February 19, 2010
Article comment by:
Brian Dowdell
Great Investigative skills.
Posted: Friday, February 19, 2010
Article comment by:
Amy Pethers
Great article
Posted: Friday, February 19, 2010
Article comment by:
Angel Calnin
Great job Toni. How wonderful to use your skills and have so much success.
Posted: Friday, February 19, 2010
Article comment by:
Joseph Gutheinz
You are a gifted writer!
Joe
Posted: Friday, February 19, 2010
Article comment by:
Stacie R
Enjoyable read and much deserved "A"!
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