Astronomy:Apollo 11 goodwill messages
The Apollo 11 goodwill messages are statements from leaders of 73 countries around the world on a disc about the size of a 50-cent piece made of silicon that was left on the Moon in 1969 by the Apollo 11 astronauts.
The disc also carried names of the leadership of the Congress, the four committees of the House and Senate responsible for legislation related to the National 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 to Sprague Electric Company of North Adams, Massachusetts which imaged it onto a silicon wafer and etched the pattern into the wafer. NASA head Thomas O. Paine proposed 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 scale ultra microfiche silicon etching. The disc rests in an aluminum case on the Moon's Sea of Tranquility.[1]
The disc was in a package in Buzz Aldrin's suit shoulder pocket along with some other memorial items. He was reminded about the package by Neil Armstrong while ascending the ladder of the Lunar Module Eagle to finish their EVA. He then dropped it to the surface.[2] Later Houston requested and received confirmation they had placed it.[3]Template:Apollo11series
Countries represented in the messages
| State | Signed by |
|---|---|
| Afghanistan | Mohammed Zahir Shah King of Afghanistan |
| Argentina | Juan Carlos Onganía President of Argentina |
| Australia | John Gorton Prime Minister of Australia |
| Belgium | Baudouin I King of the Belgians |
| Brazil | Artur da Costa e Silva President of Brazil |
| Canada | Pierre Trudeau Prime Minister of Canada |
| Chad | François Tombalbaye President of Chad |
| Chile | Eduardo Frei Montalva President of Chile |
| China[lower-alpha 1] | Chiang Kai-shek President of China |
| Colombia | Carlos Lleras Restrepo President of Colombia |
| Congo-Kinshasa | Joseph-Desiré Mobutu President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Costa Rica | José Joaquín Trejos Fernández President of Costa Rica |
| Cyprus | Makarios III President of Cyprus |
| Dahomey | Émile Derlin Zinsou President of Dahomey |
| Denmark | Frederik IX King of Denmark |
| Dominican Republic | Joaquin Balaguer President of the Dominican Republic |
| Ecuador | José María Velasco Ibarra President of Ecuador |
| Estonia[lower-alpha 2] | Ernst JaaksonConsul General of Estonia to the United States |
| Ethiopia | Haile Selassie I Emperor of Ethiopia |
| Ghana | Akwasi AfrifaHead of state of Ghana |
| Greece | Georgios Zoitakis Regent of Greece[lower-alpha 3] |
| Guyana | Forbes Burnham Prime Minister of Guyana |
| Iceland | Kristjan EldjarnPresident of Iceland |
| India | Indira Gandhi Prime Minister of India |
| Iran | Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Shah of Iran[4] |
| Ireland | Éamon de ValeraPresident of Ireland |
| Israel | Zalman ShazarPresident of Israel |
| Italy | Giuseppe SaragatPresident of Italy |
| Ivory Coast | Félix Houphouët-BoignyPresident of Ivory Coast |
| Jamaica | Hugh Shearer Prime Minister of Jamaica |
| Japan | Eisaku Satō Prime Minister of Japan |
| Kenya | Jomo KenyattaPresident of Kenya |
| Laos | Sisavang VatthanaKing of Laos |
| Latvia[lower-alpha 2] | Anatols DinbergsAmbassador of Latvia to the United States |
| Lebanon | Charles HelouPresident of Lebanon |
| Lesotho | Leabua Jonathan Prime Minister of Lesotho |
| Liberia | William TubmanPresident of Liberia |
| Madagascar | Philibert TsirananaPresident of Madagascar |
| Malaysia | Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Yang di-Pertuan Agong |
| Maldives | Unknown; the message is not signed. Ibrahim Nasir was President of the Maldives at the time. |
| Mali | Moussa TraoréPresident of Mali |
| Malta | Giorgio Borg Olivier Prime Minister of Malta |
| Mauritius | Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Prime Minister of Mauritius |
| Mexico | Gustavo Díaz OrdazPresident of Mexico |
| Morocco | Hassan IIKing of Morocco |
| Netherlands | JulianaQueen of the Netherlands |
| New Zealand | Keith Holyoake Prime Minister of New Zealand |
| Nicaragua | Anastasio Somoza DebaylePresident of Nicaragua |
| Norway | Olav V King of Norway |
| Pakistan | Yahya KhanPresident of Pakistan |
| Panama | Bolívar Urrutia ParrillaPresident of Panama |
| Peru | Juan Velasco AlvaradoPresident of Peru |
| Philippines | Ferdinand MarcosPresident of the Philippines |
| Polish People's Republic | Jerzy Michałowski (pl)Ambassador of Poland to the United States |
| Portugal | Américo TomásPresident of Portugal |
| Romania | Nicolae CeaușescuGeneral Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party |
| Senegal | Léopold Sédar SenghorPresident of Senegal |
| Sierra Leone | Siaka Stevens Prime Minister of Sierra Leone |
| South Africa | Jacobus Johannes FouchéState President of South Africa |
| South Korea | Park Chung HeePresident of the Republic of Korea |
| South Vietnam | Nguyễn Văn ThiệuPresident of the Republic of Vietnam |
| Swaziland | Sobhuza IIKing of Swaziland |
| Thailand | Bhumibol AdulyadejKing of Thailand |
| Togo | Gnassingbé EyadémaPresident of Togo |
| Trinidad and Tobago | Eric Williams Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago |
| Tunisia | Habib BourguibaPresident of Tunisia |
| Turkey | Cevdet SunayPresident of Turkey |
| United Kingdom | Elizabeth II Queen of the United Kingdom[lower-alpha 4] |
| Upper Volta | Sangoulé LamizanaPresident of Upper Volta |
| Uruguay | Jorge Pacheco ArecoPresident of Uruguay |
| Vatican City | Pope Paul VISovereign of the Vatican City State |
| Yugoslavia | Josip Broz TitoPresident of Yugoslavia |
| Zambia | Kenneth KaundaPresident of Zambia |
- ↑ The U.S. maintained relations with the Republic of China as "China" instead of the China .
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The US government did not recognize the Soviet annexation of the Baltic states.
- ↑ Regent for King Constantine II
- ↑ Also as Queen of Australia, Barbados, Canada, Ceylon, Fiji, the Gambia, Guyana, Jamaica, Malta, Mauritius, New Zealand, Rhodesia, Sierra Leone and Trinidad and Tobago.
See also
- List of time capsules
- Lunar plaque
- List of artificial objects on the Moon
References
- ↑ "Apollo 11 Goodwill Messages". NASA. July 13, 1969. https://history.nasa.gov/ap11-35ann/goodwill/Apollo_11_material.pdf.
- ↑ Jones, Eric M. (November 12, 2017). "Apollo 11 Surface Journal:EASEP Deployment and Closeout". NASA. https://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11.clsout.html.
- ↑ Jones, Eric M. (October 28, 2017). "Apollo 11 Surface Journal:Trying to Rest". NASA. https://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11.posteva.html.
- ↑ 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.. ISBN 9781585974412.
External links
- Goodwill Messages at NASA
- Lunar Litter: A short film about things left behind on crewed Moon missions, includes the goodwill message disc
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