The Moon Rock

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Taken 26 Oct 2016.

Yesterday's news about the return of China's Chang'e 5 mission with lunar samples brought back memories of my own experience with a potential connection to the Moon. The story goes that my grandfather received a small Moon rock in the 1970s as a gift when he was working in Houston for Oakite Products. NASA used Oakite cleaning products at its facilities, and Gumpy was involved in the sale of those products to NASA. My Uncle Bob (Gumpy's brother) was the CEO of Oakite between 1963-1972. The rock in its original case is pictured above. When he died in 2013, the rock went to my Dad, and when he died in 2016, the rock went to me.

I read about how NASA was interested in seeking the return of lunar samples. In October 2016, I reached out to NASA's Lunar Rock Curation team, but initially received an out-of-office reply. I followed up again in January 2017 and in July 2018. On the third try their team lead responded, suggesting that I send the rock to their office in Houston where it would be examined to see if it was a lunar sample. If it was, they would send back a letter explaining the likely source if possible, which mission, and it would be returned to the collection for use by scientists in the future. If not, they'd send it back with an explanation of what it is.

I sent the sample off to Houston, and I know it was received, but never heard back. I followed up in November 2018 and July 2019, and didn't receive a reply to those queries. They're certainly busy, but I had hoped to get some clarity on whether the rock was just a rock or something more. In any case, I have the story that my Gumpy had a Moon rock, and maybe I did too.