[meteorite-list] NASA Honors JFK with Moon Rock to be Displayed at Rice University

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 2009 17:32:12 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <200910060032.n960WCaX021567_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

Oct. 5, 2009

Stephanie Schierholz
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-4997
stephanie.schierholz at nasa.gov

Jennifer Knotts
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-792-7671
norma.j.knotts at nasa.gov

Greg Marshall
Rice University, Houston
713-348-6774
greg.marshall at rice.edu

MEDIA ADVISORY: M09-188

NASA HONORS JFK WITH MOON ROCK TO BE DISPLAYED AT RICE UNIVERSITY

WASHINGTON -- On the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the
moon, NASA honored President John F. Kennedy with an Ambassador of
Exploration Award for his vision and leadership in landing a man on
the moon. The Kennedy family has selected Rice University to house
and publicly display the award, a lunar sample, at Fondren Library.
Kennedy called for a national initiative to go to the moon during a
speech given at Rice University on Sept. 12, 1962.

Michael Coats, a former astronaut and director of NASA's Johnson Space
Center in Houston, will present the moon rock to Rice University
President David Leebron on Saturday, Oct. 10, during a halftime
ceremony at the Rice versus Navy football game. NASA astronauts
George Zamka, a graduate of the Naval Academy, and Danny Olivas, a
graduate of Rice, will serve as honorary captains for their alma
maters during the game's coin toss.

Game-day attendees can see and touch a moon rock and learn about the
space shuttle, International Space Station and future exploration
programs by visiting the agency's "Driven to Explore" exhibit. The
exhibit will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. CDT at the
stadium's Tailgate Owley outside Rice Stadium Gate 3. Zamka and
Olivas will sign autographs from 1 to 2 p.m. at the NASA exhibit.

NASA is giving the Ambassador of Exploration Award to the first
generation of explorers in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space
programs for realizing America's goal of going to the moon. The award
is a moon rock encased in Lucite, mounted for public display. The
rock is part of the 842 pounds of lunar samples collected during six
Apollo expeditions from 1969 to 1972.

NASA Television will air a video file with highlights following the
event. For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video
information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For a transcript, video and audio of Kennedy's historic speech, visit:

http://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/ricetalk.htm

For information about and pictures of the NASA Ambassador of
Exploration Award, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/AofEphotos.html

For more information about Rice University, visit:

http://www.rice.edu
        
-end-
Received on Mon 05 Oct 2009 08:32:12 PM PDT