[meteorite-list] Moon Dust

From: Martin Altmann <altmann_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 26 Jun 2011 02:30:37 +0200
Message-ID: <00dc01cc3398$45becec0$d13c6c40$_at_de>

Well, look what Slezak has here on his fingers! (photo courtesy: NASA).
That's what the big gooseberry season story is about.

http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/luceneweb/fullimage.jsp?photoId=S69-40054

The Slezak&tape story is well documented, publically known for decades now.
No idea, how one can speak then from "smuggling" or even "black market".

>Agreements such as the one shown here have long been used

Well, in this case it's the simple question "how long" they have been used.

Florian, who acquired the scotch tape, told, that when Slezak put the strip
of tape on the poster to remember in 1969/1970 no regulations concerning the
Apollo materials existed, the first ones came into effect in August 1972.

If it's so - then: Newspaper had its story, attorney his publicity on TV...
and because Ex post facto, the widow should get her dust grains back.

If it's not so, FBI has to throw Slezak and btw. Alan Bean, who used lunar
dust from his mission patches in his paintings into jail.
Anyway, these contaminated few single particles of dust, are compared to the
Apollo rocks research has at hand of no scientific interest.

Hence I think, that tax-money spent for that nuisance should have been
better spent for the acquisition of more samples of lunar meteorites for
NASA diversifying their lunar materials reservoir.


Ah here are some of Bean's paintings.
http://www.alanbean.com/available_originals.cfm

Hmm, they are quite bit more expensive than the tape-snippet...therefore
don't show them to the U.S. attorney's office in St.Louis!


When the Moon hits your eye
like a big pizza pie,

that's ammmooorrrreeee.
Martin


-----Urspr?ngliche Nachricht-----
Von: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
[mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] Im Auftrag von Jeff
Grossman
Gesendet: Sonntag, 26. Juni 2011 01:37
An: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
Betreff: Re: [meteorite-list] Moon Dust

[This email was written by me as a private citizen, and does not reflect
any kind of official position by NASA]

If you want to see the loan agreements that are used today, please read:

http://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/lunar/sampreq/LunarAllocHandbook.pdf

Agreements such as the one shown here have long been used at NASA, and
I'm pretty sure most "official" samples in the past have had paperwork
such as this accompanying them. I don't know what kind of variability
of terms there have been in these agreements, but I'm confident that,
whatever they say, they are legally binding on the recipients who sign them.

I don't understand why people would be surprised that material of any
value removed from a federal facility without permission might be
subject to scrutiny. This sounds like theft to me, and doesn't seem to
require any special law pertaining to the specific material. So, I
don't understand the comment about "self-proclaimed laws." Even if
there is no cover-up of the removal or subsequent sale, that does not
necessarily make it legal. I think the legal issue might come down to
whether or not the remover had permission, either expressed or implied.

Jeff
Received on Sat 25 Jun 2011 08:30:37 PM PDT