Skip to content

Real astronomy and dated history, with sources. Documented traditions and folklore. Modern lunar astrology · symbolic, not predictive.

Fact #188 Strange but true

A ceramic chip the size of a thumbnail, carrying drawings by six artists including Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg, was reportedly smuggled onto Apollo 12's descent stage by an engineer.

The story is that official permission was requested and never came, so an engineer at Grumman attached it quietly and sent a telegram saying it was on. Nobody has ever confirmed it is there, and nobody can, since the descent stage is still standing in the Ocean of Storms and no camera has been close enough since 1969.

Source: Myers, Interviews with the Moon Museum artists; Grumman correspondence, 1969 · checked Sep 2026

Tonight's phase needs JavaScript. The phase, the rise and set times and the calendar are all worked out on your device. There is no server doing it for you, which is also why the site has no account. The facts themselves are plain pages and read fine without it — start at Explore.

A ceramic chip the size of a thumbnail, carrying drawings by six artists including Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg, was reportedly smuggled onto Apollo 12's descent stage by an engineer.

Settings

Gear that makes it better

Where these numbers come from

A ceramic chip the size of a thumbnail, carrying drawings by six artists including Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg, was reportedly smuggled onto Apollo 12's descent stage by an engineer.

More on strange but true