Customs Forms for Moon Rocks

regen writes "I found a very interesting document while doing some research for work. This Customs Declaration has to be one of the strangest ever filled out. It is the declaration filled out by the crew of Apollo 11 for bringing Moon rocks into the United States. A news article by Independent News confirms that this document is real."

Comments

Re:Apollo customs form

[Anonymous Coward]

Does that cover fully armed ICBM's too if you launch them from one part of the US to another?

Also for asteroids?

[Anonymous Coward]

object: express delivery for the Yucatan peninsula
date: 65,000,000 B.C.
contains: large amount of the iridium element
notes: package is very heavy, do not drop.

Re:Bureaucracy in Space

[Erbo]

Hey, historic space expeditions may be one thing, but you gotta have the right government forms, too. :-)

Another interesting document which has been mentioned elsewhere: the text of a speech which was prepared for President Nixon (by William Safire, no less) in case there was some sort of disaster that marooned Armstrong and Aldrin on the lunar surface, complete with additional instructions about the protocol to be followed. Though the speech was (thankfully) never needed, it remains an interesting footnote to what will probably be remembered as NASA's most successful series of missions.

Eric
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Anything to declare?

[ElrondHubbard]

July 24, 1969
Honolulu, Hawaii

Customs Agent: Citizenship?

Astronaut: American.

C: How long away?

A: About a week.

C: Anything to declare?

A: Nope.

C: Would you mind opening your bag, sir?

A: Uh, okay.

C: Would you mind explaining this, sir?

A: It's a rock.

C: No, sir. Would you mind explaining this white powder?

A: Huh?

C: What are you, playing dumb? What's this white powder?

A: It's just a dust sample. It goes with the rock.

C: It goes with the rock. What's that supposed to mean?

A: I don't understand.

C: Do you have a problem with your hearing, sir? I asked you to explain this white powder.

A: I picked that up while I was away.

C: Did you, now? And where might you be coming from?

A: The moon.

C: The moon.

A: That's right, the moon.

C: So this rock is from the moon, right?

A: That's right.

C: And this white powder --

A: It's moondust.

C: Oh, I see. It's MOONdust. Would you come with me, sir?

A: What, now?

C: Yes. Now.

A: But I have to report for debrief --

C: DOWN ON THE FLOOR! NOW!!

Re:Good thing it was an American mission...

[sharkey]

Why? What would they do if they found one? Roll over and start screaming, "WE SURRENDER!"?

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Re:And it's wrong, too

[ivan256]

You know, I read your post and thought "He's right, but he should be able to provide a reference...". So I went to look for one, but it seems according to the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature and NASA You're just plain wrong. The name of Earth's moon is "Moon". Luna just happens to be the Italian word for it.

Passports?

[CBoy]

Are they required to show passports that they are American citizens? If they lost them/can't prove it, are they sent back to the moon ? :)

Re:Passports?

[fm6]

Before you can be deported, another country has to agree to accept you. I looked, and I looked, but there's no phone number for the lunar embassy!

__________________

Re:Apollo customs form

[peccary]

I don't believe that it was entirely tongue-in-cheek. When I last studied the customs laws, in the context of exporting and importing cryptographic "munitions", I noted that there was an exception provided for both the export, and import, of rockets which are launched from within the US borders. IOW, if you launch a rocket from Florida into outer space and it re-enters in Albequerque, no import declaration need be filed.

2010

[DeadVulcan]

I'm reminded of the movie, 2010, when the deteriorating political situation required the American astronauts to be "recalled" to Discovery. It's just so eerily believable...

How territorial we humans are.

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It had to be said....

[Rudeboy777]

That sound you hear is thousnads of Scientologists gasping at the thought of Xenu getting held up at the border upon his triumphant return.

I would have....

[canning]

checked them too. I mean come on, there travelling with a guy who's middle name is Buzz. Moon dust........ sure it's moon dust.

10 Excuses for bringing Moon Rock thru customs

[Seinfeld]

10. Hey, some guy on the moon paid me 50 bucks to bring this back 9. This isn't my suitcase! 8. I brought this moon rock with me on the trip out 7. You can have half if you let me go 6. No, no, this is a piece of the Berlin Wall 5. Hey, aren't you going to check Armstrong? 4. Lunar customs didn't have a problem with it! 3. This is a paperweight - didn't you see the pictures of all that stuff flying around the capsule? 2. What's the tax on a rock anyway? 1. This is just moon cheese - take a bite!
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Re:Doesn't the US own it?

[popular]

http://www.marssociety.org/law_and_governance/moon .asp

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Apollo customs form

[macsuibhne]

If you live in the Bay Area, a contemporary copy of the customs declaration (probably required in triplicate) can be seen on USS Hornet, the aircraft carrier (now a floating museum in Alameda) that hauled many of the Apollo capsules out of the Pacific and took them to Hawaii. It was clearly done as a tongue in cheek thing by US Customs, and possibly to cop a little reflected glamour from the moon shot. Incidentally, there was a very real concern about the astronauts bringing "moon bugs" back with them. The capsule and astronauts were soused with disinfectant foam, and subsequently put in quarantine for weeks.