A Piece of the Moon

Apollo 17 conducted the last moon landing in December 1972. Geologist and Apollo 17 co-pilot Harrison H. Schmitt and astronaut Eugene Cernan collected more than 100kg of lunar rock, which is more than on any other Apollo misions.

Schmitt was the first civilian to be included in such a flight. He and Cernan were the last human beings to have walked on the moon.

In this room you can see a lunar rock that was brought back to the earth at that time. It was donated to Belgium by US president Richard Nixon and was given to the Museum by King Baudouin in 1974.