NASA to honor JFK with moon rock

HOUSTON, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- NASA says it will honor the late President John F. Kennedy with an Ambassador of Exploration award for his vision and leadership in landing a man on the moon.

The U.S. space agency said the award marks the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. Officials said the Kennedy family selected Rice University in Houston to house and publicly display the award, a lunar rock, at Fondren Library.

Kennedy called for a national initiative to go to the moon during a Sept. 12, 1962, speech delivered at Rice University.

Former NASA astronaut Michael Coats, now director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, will present the moon rock Saturday to Rice University President David Leebron during a halftime ceremony at the Rice-Navy football game.

NASA said game-day attendees can see and touch a moon rock and learn about the space shuttle, International Space Station and future exploration programs by visiting the agency's "Driven to Explore" exhibit. The exhibit will be open 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. CDT at the stadium's Tailgate Owley outside Rice Stadium Gate 3.

NASA is presenting the Ambassador of Exploration Award to the first generation of explorers in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space programs for realizing America's goal of going to the moon.

The award is a moon rock encased in Lucite, mounted for public display. The rock is part of the 842 pounds of lunar samples collected during six Apollo expeditions from 1969 to 1972.