Space Rocks! Moon and Mt. Everest Rocks Find a Home in Orbit
Moon rocks, collected during the historic Apollo 11 mission,
will find a new residence aboard the International Space Station
alongside a piece of Mt. Everest. On May 20, 2009, during his
second attempt to reach the highest point on Earth’s continental
crust, former NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski successfully
carried the moon rocks with him to the summit of Mt. Everest.
Part of the Himalaya range in Asia, Mt. Everest is located on
the border between Sagarmatha Zone, Nepal and Tibet, China - a
perilous journey for Parazynski and his team. Parazynski
collected a rock from the summit of Mt. Everest to accompany the
lunar samples on their journey back to space. On Jan. 6, at
Space Center Houston, Parazynski presented the rocks to NASA
astronaut and STS-130 Commander George Zamka during a special
ceremony. Zamka will deliver the rocks to the space station
during Space Shuttle Endeavour's mission where they will reside
in the Tranquility module, also bei