The Apollo 11 goodwill messages are statements from leaders of 73 countries around the world on a disc about the size of a 50-cent piece made of silicon that was left on the Moon in 1969 by the Apollo 11 astronauts.
The disc also carried names of the leadership of the Congress, the four committees of the House and Senate responsible for legislation related to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and NASA's top management, including past administrators and deputy administrators.
At the top of the disc is the inscription: "Goodwill messages from around the world brought to the Moon by the astronauts of Apollo 11." Around the rim is the statement: "From Planet EarthJuly 1969". The collected letters were given to the GCA Corp in Burlington MA which used a reduction camera to make a negative photomask containing all the letters plus an inscription around its edge at its final size. This mask was given to Sprague Electric Company of North Adams, Massachusetts which imaged it onto a silicon wafer and etched the pattern into the wafer. NASA head Thomas O. Paine proposed the idea to the U.S. State Department, and corresponded with world leaders to solicit their messages. These were enshrined by being photographed and reduced to 1/200 scale ultra microfiche silicon etching. The disc rests in an aluminum case on the Moon's Sea of Tranquility.
The disc was in a package in Buzz Aldrin's suit shoulder pocket along with some other memorial items. He was reminded about the package by Neil Armstrong while ascending the ladder of the Lunar Module Eagle to finish their EVA. He then dropped it to the surface. Later Houston requested and received confirmation they had placed it.
Countries represented in the messages State Signed by Mohammed Zahir ShahKing of Afghanistan Juan Carlos OnganíaPresident of Argentina John GortonPrime Minister of Australia Baudouin IKing of the Belgians Artur da Costa e SilvaPresident of Brazil Pierre TrudeauPrime Minister of Canada François TombalbayePresident of Chad Eduardo Frei MontalvaPresident of Chile Chiang Kai-shekPresident of the Republic of China Carlos Lleras RestrepoPresident of Colombia Congo-Kinshasa Joseph-Desiré MobutuPresident of the Democratic Republic of the Congo José Joaquín Trejos FernándezPresident of Costa Rica Makarios IIIPresident of Cyprus Émile Derlin ZinsouPresident of Dahomey Frederik IXKing of Denmark Joaquin BalaguerPresident of the Dominican Republic José María Velasco IbarraPresident of Ecuador Estonia Ernst JaaksonConsul General of Estonia to the United States Haile Selassie IEmperor of Ethiopia Akwasi AfrifaHead of state of Ghana Georgios ZoitakisRegent of Greece Guyana Forbes BurnhamPrime Minister of Guyana Kristjan EldjarnPresident of Iceland Indira GandhiPrime Minister of India Mohammad Reza PahlaviShah of Iran Éamon de ValeraPresident of Ireland Zalman ShazarPresident of Israel Giuseppe SaragatPresident of Italy Félix Houphouët-BoignyPresident of Ivory Coast Hugh ShearerPrime Minister of Jamaica Eisaku SatōPrime Minister of Japan Jomo KenyattaPresident of Kenya Sisavang VatthanaKing of Laos Latvia Anatols DinbergsAmbassador of Latvia to the United States Charles HelouPresident of Lebanon Leabua JonathanPrime Minister of Lesotho William TubmanPresident of Liberia Philibert TsirananaPresident of Madagascar Unknown; the message is not signed. Unknown; the message is not signed. Moussa TraoréPresident of Mali Malta Giorgio Borg OlivierPrime Minister of Malta Mauritius Seewoosagur RamgoolamPrime Minister of Mauritius Gustavo Díaz OrdazPresident of Mexico Hassan IIKing of Morocco JulianaQueen of the Netherlands Keith HolyoakePrime Minister of New Zealand Anastasio Somoza DebaylePresident of Nicaragua Olav VKing of Norway Yahya KhanPresident of Pakistan Bolívar Urrutia ParrillaPresident of Panama Juan Velasco AlvaradoPresident of Peru Ferdinand MarcosPresident of the Philippines Ambassador of Poland to the United States Américo TomásPresident of Portugal Nicolae CeaușescuPresident of the State Council of Romania and General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party Léopold Sédar SenghorPresident of Senegal Sierra Leone Siaka StevensPrime Minister of Sierra Leone Jacobus Johannes FouchéState President of South Africa Park Chung HeePresident of the Republic of Korea Nguyễn Văn ThiệuPresident of the Republic of Vietnam Sobhuza IIKing of Swaziland Unknown; the message is not signed. Gnassingbé EyadémaPresident of Togo Eric WilliamsPrime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Habib BourguibaPresident of Tunisia Cevdet SunayPresident of Turkey Elizabeth IIQueen of the United Kingdom Sangoulé LamizanaPresident of Upper Volta Jorge Pacheco ArecoPresident of Uruguay Pope Paul VISovereign of the Vatican City State Josip Broz TitoPresident of Yugoslavia Kenneth KaundaPresident of Zambia
See also List of time capsules Lunar plaque List of artificial objects on the Moon
References
External links Goodwill Messages at NASA Lunar Litter: A short film about things left behind on crewed Moon missions, includes the goodwill message disc