Ireland lunar sample displays Ireland lunar sample displays The Ireland lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of moon rock brought back to earth by the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions and given to the people of Ireland by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts. The Apollo 11 lunar sample display commemorative podium style plaque given to Ireland, once housed at the Dunsink Observatory in Dublin, consisted of four moon rock fragments – rice-size particle specimens that were collected by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969 – and a small flag that
Neil Armstrong LLRV training, NASA began lunar landing simulator training after Apollo 10 was completed. Aldrin and Armstrong trained for a variety of scenarios that could develop during a real lunar landing. They also received briefings from geologists at NASA. When they made a geological expedition to a moon-like area in the mountains of west Texas, the press found out and crowded the area with cars and a helicopter, making it hard for the astronauts to hear the geologist who'd accompanied them. After Armstrong served as backup commander for Apollo 8, Slayton offered him the post of commander of Apollo 11 on