Jos Kirps's Popular Science and Technology Blog

Damn! Richard Nixon's Signature Is On The Moon... Even Twice!

December 10, 2007

From 1969 to 1972 NASA sent manned missions to the Moon. A total of twelve Apollo astronauts landed on the Moon's surface during this period. The landings were performed using the so-called "Lunar Module", while the Command Module remained in moon orbit.

The Lunar Module (or simlpy "LM") had a ladder, used by the astronauts to climb down to the Moon's surface respectively to get back into the LM. And each ladder had a so-called "Lunar Plaque" attached to it - these are square stainless steel plaques (9" x 7 5/8") bearing the names of the three mission astronauts. While the upper part of the LM was used to return to the orbiting command module, the lower part including the ladder - and thus the plaque - remained on the moon's surface.

Two of these plaques - both the first (Apollo 11 in 1969) and the last one (Apollo 17 in 1972) also bear a facsimile of the signature of President Richard Nixon, who was U.S. President from 1969 to 1974, additionally to the astronauts signatures.

Which means that Nixon's signature has now been on the moon for about 38 years (Apollo 11 landed on July 20, 1969).

Don't know who Richard Nixen was? Richard Milhous Nixon was born in 1913 and was the thirty-seventh President of the United States. He was the only U.S. President to resign the office. And he's the only U.S. President who got his damn signature up to the moon. He died on April 22, 1994 at the age of 81.

Interested in Space, Astronomy or Science-Fiction? You may want top check out Galaxiki then, it's a site I created where you can edit your own solar system in a virtual galaxy.

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