Illinois lunar sample displays Illinois lunar sample displays The Illinois lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of moon specimen brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions and given in the 1970s to the people of Illinois by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts. The Illinois Apollo 11 lunar sample display commemorative plaque consists of four "moon rock" rice-size particle specimens that were collected by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969 and a small Illinois state flag that was taken to the moon and back on Apollo 11. The four
6470 Aldrin 14.78. This minor planet was named for American astronaut Buzz Aldrin (born 1930), on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. He was one of the first two humans to land on the Moon, and the second person to walk on it, following Neil Armstrong, after whom the asteroid 6469 Armstrong is named. Its name was suggested by Czech astronomers Jana Tichá, Miloš Tichý and Zdeněk Moravec, who observed the asteroid during its 1995-opposition, shortly before being numbered. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 4 May 1999 (). 6470 Aldrin