Tiny Art Museum Hidden Aboard Apollo 12 for Its Moon Landing

Neil Armstrong's moon walk on the 1969 Apollo 11 mission was a small step for a man and a giant leap for mankind, but a small ceramic tile snuck aboard the Apollo 12 mission a few months later has turned out to be a giant leap for American art.

Believe it or not, one of the engineers who built the lunar module for the Apollo 12, the second moon landing, snuck aboard a tiny ceramic chip containing original artwork by six of the American art world's biggest names, including Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg and Robert Rauschenberg, creating a permanent miniature art museum on the moon.

The tiny tile holding all six pieces -- which is only three-quarters of an inch by half an inch -- was affixed to one of the legs on the lunar module.

Amazingly, its existence has been a secret known only by a select few people, including renowned New York artist Forrest "Frosty" Myers, who created the "Moon Museum" and contributed a drawing, and a deceased engineer who worked on the project and is only known by the cryptic name "John F."

But now, the whole picture of how the mini museum made it to the moon is coming to light thanks to the PBS series "History Detectives," which has its 8th season premiere on June 21.

The show features four history experts who track down the history of obscure artifacts sent in by readers.

In this case, series host and historian Gwendolyn Wright found out about this piece of history from Jade Dellinger, a Florida-based art curator who bought a reproduction of the tile via an online auction.

Wright admits she was skeptical about the tile's provenance, but after all the research now admits it's one of the "strangest, most exciting" experiences of her life.

"I will never think of the moon in the same way again," Wright said. "This case truly surprised me. What I thought seemed impossible, at first, became an amazing story of art winning its place alongside science, and some playful innovation that is sure to intrigue history buffs, space lovers and art aficionados alike."

via Tiny Art Museum Hidden Aboard Apollo 12 for Its Moon Landing.