RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - The South Dakota Air and Space Museum
will be getting a lunar sample.
Officials with the Ellsworth Heritage Foundation Board have been
working on the acquisition since 2007.
Foundation President Mike Schwab says the board felt would be
something people wouldn't expect to see in western South Dakota.
Moon rocks don't come cheap. Schwab estimates that travel to get
the rock plus equipping the museum with an airtight display unit
and security system could cost more than $40,000.
The lunar sample coming to South Dakota is a smaller portion
from a larger rock collected by the Apollo 15 astronauts during
their flight in 1971.
Apollo 15 was the fourth mission to land on the moon and the
eighth successful manned mission.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-09-16-11 1231EDT
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