EVEN before the Apollo 11 astronauts were flown to Houston, a cargo nearly as precious was rushed to the Manned Spacecraft Center. Transported separately so that the whole shipment could not be lost in a single accident, two boxes containing some 60 lbs. of lunar soil and rocks were flown off the U.S.S. Hornet in two helicopters and taken to Johnston Island. From there, they were airlifted aboard two planes directly to Houston, then trucked to the Lunar Receiving Lab (LRL). The space agency gave the rocks such VIP treatment that NASA Administrator...
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