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Moon Rock Winds Up In Court

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the i'll-get-that-pesky-moon-rock-if-its-the-last-thing-I-do dept.

Lothar+0 writes "In United States v. Lucite ball containing lunar material (an actual case, I'm not making this up, folks), the feds are suing to get back a moon rock from an American who brought it back from Honduras. They're alleging that this rock from the Apollo 17 mission is stolen property; ironic considering that NASA took something that wasn't under U.S. jurisdiction."

6 of 412 comments (clear)

  1. Mrs. Ball, In Trouble Again. by SEWilco · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Awww, Ricky! I brought this souvenir back from Honduras and accidentally swallowed it! And now the whole country is suing me! Aaaaaahhhhhhwwwwww! Aaaaahhhhwwww! I should have known there was something suspicious when the souvenir seller in the black suit called me Mrs. Ricardo before I introduced myself! Hoow ddoooo I gett iinn theeese thiinngs! Aaaaaahhhwww!"

  2. Give it back! by xant · · Score: 3, Funny

    To the original owner, that is. If we "stole" it from international territory, then it's forfeit to the original owner, right? Which is to say: the moon. Let's bring that sucker back and put it where we found it.

    Any excuse to fire rockets into space is a good one if you ask me.

    --
    It's rare that you're presented with a knob whose only two positions are Make History and Flee Your Glorious Destiny.
  3. What a rip off!! by RiotXIX · · Score: 3, Funny

    $5 million for 1.142-grams of moon rock? In Detroit they "moon rock" and "moon dust" for $10-$40 per gram.

    --
    "You know you don't act like a scientist, you're more like a game show host." Dana Barret
  4. Five million! by Comrade+Pikachu · · Score: 3, Funny

    Maybe NASA can tap this lucrative new source of revenue to fund ambitious missions of exploration. I'm hoping that bits of Mars start showing up on Ebay within the decade!

  5. How do they know it's real? by guttentag · · Score: 3, Funny
    If it's encased in Lucite, how do they know it's a real moon rock?

    I'm sure there are plenty of people who would take a rock from their backyard, encase it in a Lucite ball and sell it on eBay if they thought people would fall for it. Heck, from the looks of the photo, that could be a piece of dried dog poop.

    Let's take it one step further: Nixon wanted to placate the Honduran dictator without giving him anything of real value, so he had some of Checkers's excrement encased in a futuristic-looking Lucite ball. Deliver it with a plaque and you have a great joke to tell your friends. In fact, I'll bet that's what he was talking about during the famous gap...

  6. Re:Value of Moon Rocks by Tackhead · · Score: 5, Funny
    Lemme get this straight.

    There's an insurance company, who, in exchange for premiums, was dum^H^H^Hwilling to fund a NASA lunar sample retrieval mission in the event of theft, accidental loss, or destruction...

    ...and NOBODY from NASA was smart enough to steal the damn rock, pound it into sand, and drop the sand into the sea over the Marianas Trench? :-)

    C'mon, NASA, this isn't rocket science... uh... lemme rephrase that.