Apollo 11 goodwill messages
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Apollo11Disck.png/220px-Apollo11Disck.png)
TheApollo 11 goodwill messagesare statements from leaders of 73 countries around the world on a disc about the size of a50-cent piecemade ofsiliconthat was left on theMoonin 1969 by theApollo 11astronauts.
The disc also carried names of the leadership of theCongress,the four committees of the House and Senate responsible for legislation related to theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA), and NASA's top management, including past administrators and deputy administrators.
At the top of the disc is the inscription: "Goodwill messages from around the world brought to the Moon by the astronauts of Apollo 11." Around the rim is the statement: "From Planet Earth – July 1969". The collected letters were given to the GCA Corp in Burlington MA which used a reduction camera to make a negative photomask containing all the letters plus an inscription around its edge at its final size. This mask was given toSprague ElectricCompany ofNorth Adams, Massachusettswhich imaged it onto a silicon wafer and etched the pattern into the wafer. NASA headThomas O. Paineproposed the idea to the U.S. State Department, and corresponded with world leaders to solicit their messages. These were enshrined by being photographed and reduced to 1/200 scaleultra microfichesilicon etching. The disc rests in an aluminum case on the Moon'sSea of Tranquility.[1]
The disc was in a package inBuzz Aldrin's suit shoulder pocket along with some other memorial items. He was reminded about the package byNeil Armstrongwhile ascending the ladder of theLunar ModuleEagleto finish theirEVA.He then dropped it to the surface.[2]Later Houston requested and received confirmation they had placed it.[3]
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Countries represented in the messages[edit]
- ^The U.S. maintained relations with the Republic of China as "China" instead of thePeople's Republic of China.
- ^abThe US government did not recognize the Soviet annexation of the Baltic states.
- ^Regent for KingConstantine II
- ^Also as Queen ofAustralia,Barbados,Canada,Ceylon,Fiji,the Gambia,Guyana,Jamaica,Malta,Mauritius,New Zealand,Rhodesia,Sierra LeoneandTrinidad and Tobago.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^"Apollo 11 Goodwill Messages"(PDF).NASA.July 13, 1969.RetrievedJune 12,2024.
- ^Jones, Eric M. (November 12, 2017)."Apollo 11 Surface Journal:EASEP Deployment and Closeout".NASA. Event occurs at 111:36:38.RetrievedJuly 8,2019.
- ^Jones, Eric M. (October 28, 2017)."Apollo 11 Surface Journal:Trying to Rest".NASA. Event occurs at 114:52:28.RetrievedJuly 8,2019.
- ^Rahman, Tahir (2008).We came in peace for all mankind: the untold story of the Apollo 11 silicon disk(1st ed.). Overland Park, Kan.: Leathers Pub.ISBN9781585974412.
External links[edit]
- Goodwill Messages at NASA
- Lunar Litter:A short film about things left behind on crewed Moon missions, includes the goodwill message disc