If you ever happen to see an eager seller on ebay or Craigslist offering authentic moon rocks or lunar dust hauled back during the glory days of the Apollo moon landing missions, it’s probably best to view that sale with extreme skepticism as any NASA astromaterials are not exactly available on the open market, and there are serious legal ramifications to anyone caught peddling these precious objects.
One of the most notorious and brazen cases of astromaterials theft took place in 2002, when three NASA interns, Thad Roberts, Tiffany Fowler, and Shae Saur stole 17 pounds (8 kilograms) of moon rocks worth nearly $21 million from a safe at the Johnson Space Center. The heist used a combo of tampered cameras, neoprene body suits, and official NASA badges to pull off the cape . But selling Apollo treasures on the black market proved to be not so easy, and the culprits finally put them up for sale on the Mineralogy Club of Antwerp’s online site. Tampa Division FBI agents acted as interested buyers that met at an Orlando-area hotel where the thieves were nabbed and the moon rocks recovered. Roberts, as the mastermind, received an 8-year prison sentence while the others were given house arrest.
NASA’s Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility is located in Building 31N at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. It opened in 1979 to provide a non-contaminating, permanent repository environment for NASA’s precious lunar sample collection.
Inside the secure enclosure, geologic astromaterials returned from the moon by six Apollo lunar surface exploration missions spanning the years between 1969 and 1972 are held with all related data records. A total of 842 pounds (382 kilograms) of moon rocks, core samples, pebbles, sand and dust came back to Earth. Apollo 17’s mission alone returned a whopping 243 pounds (110.4 kg) of lunar regolith and rock samples.
Folks working at the Lunar Sample Laboratory are extremely careful about what they can say and not say relating to this subject. Try as we might, we were unable to obtain any direct comment laying out the laws regarding those types of transactions. NASA and the Johnson Space Center have exacting records of each lunar sample and have carefully catalogued everything that has been aboard any Apollo capsule ever to splash down in Earth’s oceans. Pristine lunar samples are stored and handled in stainless steel glove cabinets, separated by triple layers of gloves, and purged by high-purity nitrogen gas to reduce sample degradation.
So to answer the basic question of buying and selling of Apollo materials returned from the moon, the obvious answer is that no, it is absolutely not legal in any circumstance under severe penalty of law. It is a serious Federal crime that carries with it prison time and costly fines. Apollo moon rocks are NASA and U.S. government property which cannot be sold or exchanged to any private citizen, not even astronauts themselves. Lunar meteorites don’t apply since they have dropped to Earth naturally and were not transported by government-employed astronauts.
Here are the three federal statutes that apply to Apollo astromaterial trafficking:
- 18 U.S.C. § 641 – Theft of Government Property Moon rocks gathered by intrepid astronauts are federal property belonging to NASA. This law makes it a felony to steal, convert, or embezzle any U.S. government-owned property.
- 18 U.S.C. § 668 – Theft of Cultural Heritage or Major Artwork Even though they’re considered scientific in nature, lunar samples can be labeled as objects of historical and cultural significance. This specific law prohibits theft from any museum or government institution and also bans possession or sale of these stolen heritage items.
- 18 U.S.C. § 2314 & § 2315 – Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property If those stolen items are worth more than $5,000 (such as moon rocks/lunar dust) move across state lines, additional federal charges for trafficking stolen property apply.
Although NASA guards these invaluable items under the most rigorous security measures, it is still the agency’s policy to allow public access to lunar samples from the Apollo Program by providing loans to approved individuals or groups in the United States and foreign countries.
To be eligible for sample examination, educators and scientists at universities or research centers need to complete NASA’s Lunar and Meteorite Certification Workshop at the Johnson Space Center. Candidates need to be officially certified to borrow any Lunar and Meteorite Sample Disks encased in Lucite plastic, and retain a copy of their certification form that was legally signed by a NASA Authorized Sample Certifier. Those certified educators or museum curators must also follow strict protocols of handling, protection, contamination, and specific return packaging and mailing requirements which are outlined at NASA’s Curation Site.
NASA’s ARES (Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division) performs the physical science research at the Johnson Space Center and is curator for all NASA-held extraterrestrial samples. These free-of-charge, 5 to 7-hour workshops include hands-on sessions and detailed security training regarding proper handling of the Sample Disks. Researchers are allowed to open and handle display samples in air if their experiments necessitate it. Leftover sample material is required to be sent back to NASA, where it’s reclassified as “returned” and stored separately from pristine examples.
“The material is still actively used,” NASA digital restoration expert and “Apollo Remastered” author Andy Saunders told Space.com. “In 2022 an Apollo 17 core sample, that had remained sealed for 50 years, was opened for the very first time at JSC. How wonderful – we’re still learning from the Apollo missions. JSC also stores all the original film from Apollo, in the freezer in Building 8. Mercury and Gemini were moved to the National Archives at College Park, Maryland back in 1997.”
While everyone would love to own some small token of astromaterial from the moon, the U.S. government decrees were put in place to halt any black market activity for genuine samples that might escape the government’s possession.
Simple rule: If it was brought back by a NASA Apollo mission, don’t even think about it. That little illegal lunar rock or dust grain just might launch you on a trajectory straight to prison!
