Four tiny fragments of moon rock gifted to the Maltese by US president Richard Nixon are on permanent display at the Gozo Nature Museum in Victoria.

A Maltese flag which made its way to the moon and back with the same crew is also on exhibit accompanying the fragments.

Fifty years ago, on July 20 1969, astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr were the first humans to set foot on the moon’s surface. The lunar expedition Apollo 11 had left the earth’s surface with these two astronauts and another astronaut, Michael Collins, on 16th July 1969. 

Conspiracy theories about the landings abound. One claim is that the film director Stanley Kubrick helped NASA fake the historic footage of its six successful moon landings. However, Harry Berry, filmmaker and lecturer in film post-production claims with certainty that given the technology at the time footage would have been impossible to fake.

Moon rock theft

A moon rock from a different mission which was displayed at Mdina’s National History Museum was stolen in 2004. The fragments, which had an estimated value reaching €4.45 million, had been harvested from the moon's Taurus Littrow Valley by the astronauts of Apollo 17 during their mission of December 7 - 9, 1972. 

A curator at the Mdina museum and a museum officer carrying out a routine inspection had discovered that the display case had been forced open and the rock stolen. A retired NASA office inspector who helped retrieve a stolen moon rock in Honduras had offered the Maltese authorities his help following the theft.

However, to date the stones have not been found.