The photograph of July 24, 1969 shows the command module of Apollo 11, which landed in the Pacific Ocean. The crew is waiting for them to pick up the American staff after the 8-day mission to the moon. The gold copy of the module, stolen in July 2017 from the Ohio Museum, is still not found.
A little more than a year has passed since the thief broke into the Air and Space Museum in Ohio and stole an 18-carat gold copy of the Apollo 11 lunar module and other artifacts that have yet to be found.
A copy was provided to Neil Armstrong, who became the first person to set foot on the lunar surface, as well as to Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. The ceremony took place in Paris after the historic flight in 1969. The theft from the museum caused fear that the copy would be melted. Its cost was estimated at $ 40,000. A 12/7 inch copy of Aldrin was sold at auction in November 2017 for $ 150,000. Wapakoneta (Ohio) Police Chief Calvin Schneider called the theft a real blow. The temporary director of the museum, British Venturella reported that a copy of the lunar module was one of 2,000 exhibits on display.
Former NASA investigator Joseph Gatains, who helped restore valuable moon rocks, called the theft a disgrace. He believes that this was the work of unsophisticated kidnappers, who probably melted the value, which weighed about 0.8 kg. He is surprised that the robbers did not take a large moonstone, which on the black market would be of greater value and easier to sell.
