Lunar plaque


The Lunar plaques are stainless steel commemorative plaques measuring attached to the ladders on the descent stages of the United States Apollo Lunar Modules flown on lunar landing missions Apollo 11 through Apollo 17, to be left permanently on the lunar surface. The plaques were originally suggested and designed by NASA's head of technical services Jack Kinzler, who oversaw their production.
All of the plaques bear facsimiles of the participating astronauts' signatures. For this reason, an extra plaque had to be made for Apollo 13 due to the late replacement of one crew member. The first and last plaques bear a facsimile of the signature of Richard Nixon, President of the United States during the landings, along with references to the start and completion of "man's first explorations of the Moon" and expressions of peace "for all mankind".
All, except the Apollo 12 plaque, bear pictures of the two hemispheres of Earth. Apollo 17's plaque bears a depiction of the lunar globe in addition to the Earth. The plaques used on missions 13 through 16 bear the call-sign of each mission's Lunar Module. All the plaques were left on the Moon, except the two for the aborted Apollo 13 mission which did not land on the Moon.

Plaques deployed