Dusty

[George K]

Apollo 11 Moon Dust Samples Go Up for Auction

The first-ever collected sample of moon dust is headed to auction in New York on April 13, against the wishes of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), according to Forbes’ Carlie Porterfield. Bonhams, the auction house conducting the sale, estimates the specimens from Neil Armstrong’s famous Apollo 11 moon walk could fetch between $800,000 to $1.2 million, according to a press release. Portions of the proceeds will go to scientific charities.

This is the first time NASA-verified moon dust will be legally sold, despite the space organization’s efforts, according to Rebecca Heilweil for Vox. NASA’s battle to keep lunar dust out of private hands goes back decades, leading to numerous court disputes against individuals who have somehow obtained samples from the organization’s 1969 Apollo program. While NASA has won many of these disputes, ownership claims over the Bonham auction dust samples broke free of the legal hurdles after the space agency lost a number of court battles.

[89th]

Talk about an easy thing to counterfeit!

I have a coworker who bought some Apollo "stuff" in the past. I can't recall, other than I thought they were small chunks of moon rock (like a few mm in width?) that he paid something like $4,000 for. Anyway... stupid story, but I guess my point is I thought this had been done before, even more than what the article mentions.

[George K]

Can you see someone talking it the guys at Pawn Stars?

"Best I can do...."

[89th]

Sir, we can't tell if this is from your vacuum or from the Sea of Tranquility.

[Horace]

If only magic spells existed, moon dust would be a great material component. Whenever magic spells are invented, whoever owns that moon dust will have a huge advantage.

[89th]

@Horace said in Dusty:

If only magic spells existed, moon dust would be a great material component. Whenever magic spells are invented, whoever owns that moon dust will have a huge advantage.

Pretty sure that's on Elon Musk's roadmap for FY22 Q3.

[Klaus]

This is the first time NASA-verified moon dust will be legally sold, despite the space organization’s efforts, according to Rebecca Heilweil for Vox. NASA’s battle to keep lunar dust out of private hands goes back decades

Why does NASA care whether moon stuff goes in private hands?

[George K]

@Klaus said in Dusty:

This is the first time NASA-verified moon dust will be legally sold, despite the space organization’s efforts, according to Rebecca Heilweil for Vox. NASA’s battle to keep lunar dust out of private hands goes back decades

Why does NASA care whether moon stuff goes in private hands?

I think their claim is that it was stolen.

[89th]

Technically, NASA stole it first (from the moon). Probably was another white male land grab.

[Copper]

@89th said in Dusty:

I have a coworker who bought some Apollo "stuff"

I had a coworker who bought Russian Space artifacts, including Soyuz and Kosmos spacecraft and a space suit for a never-accomplished moon landing.

https://apnews.com/article/1b31649fd517dac029d6ed70cf0e1984