Cyprus moon rock found

THE ODYSSEY of Cyprus’ moon rock, which has been missing for decades, is finally coming to a happy ending.
The piece of the lunar rock from the Apollo 17 mission, which should have been presented to Cyprus, but never was, has been recovered by NASA, ex-NASA special agent Joseph Gutheinz told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.
“I would not be surprised to see President Obama himself present this moon rock to the President of Cyprus. I am very excited that the last Goodwill Moon Rock will finally find its way home,” Gutheinz said.
Gutheinz, who is now a professor at the University of Phoenix, said NASA’s Office of Criminal Investigations had recovered the plaque and the lunar rock fragment after an unnamed person came forward.
Gutheinz quoted an official at NASA’S Office of Criminal Investigations as saying:  “We recovered it. An individual in possession of the plaque came forward. I’m sure the internet articles had a lot to do with the individual’s decision.
“It took five months of negotiations, but it’s done.”
The rock, virtually worthless in terms of mineral value, can fetch large sums on the black market. Cyprus’ rock had reportedly been offered up for sale in 2003 by the son of a US diplomat.
 “On the black market this moon rock could have fetched $5 million. My graduate students have actively been hunting for this moon rock for eight years.  Apparently some of the publicity we generated about this missing moon rock helped convince the person who had it to return it,” Gutheinz said.
Many moon rocks have been lost, taken or destroyed over the years.
“This recovery, after so long, increases the hopes that other similar recoveries are still possible,” said Gutheinz.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.