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FBI Arrests 4 College Interns For Stealing Lunar Materials

Posted by Hemos on from the striking-a-blow-for-profits dept.

An anonymous reader "Today, the fourth member of a group of college interns working at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston turned herself in after being charged with conspiracy to steal government property. Click2Houston.com has an article with a video feed covering many details of the case. Apparently, three of the alleged theives went to Florida and tried to sell, online, the 5 oz. of moon rocks and meteorite material they lugged out of the JSC in a 600lb case. Here's another article from the Houston Chronicle."

7 of 289 comments (clear)

  1. Government property? by plumby · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Why is it government property? I thought there was an agreement that the moon was not owned by any country or government. Surely taking the rock from the moon doesn't actually mean that you then own it (as you've then stolen it from the rest of the world). If it belongs to anyone one earth, then maybe the UN, but not an individual government.

    1. Re:Government property? by great+throwdini · · Score: 3, Interesting

      One point on which I don't agree is the idea that we own it forever. Apparently there was some recent disagreement (perhaps discussed here on the dot?) that involved a moon rock that had changed hands a few times. The first change of hands (from the U.S. to a foreign dignitary) was legit, but one or more of the later transfers were not legit. I don't agree that the U.S. has a legitimate claim to it.

      Should I happen to be so lucky to recall this particular dispute correctly, the issue was that the lunar rock in question had been gifted to a foreign dignitary, subsequently stolen, and was now in process of being resold.

      Ah. Here's a reference to the lunar dispute. Seems the Feds want to reclaim a rock originally given to Honduras by President Nixon so that they may return it to the Honduran government. The person most recently in possession of the rock claimed to have bought it from a Honduran military officer who, in turn, claimed to have been given it as a gift some time ago. The Honduran gov't claims they never let it go willingly in the first place.

      And here's a 1995 lunar rock dispute, wherein the Feds claimed a rock put up for sale was stolen in the mail some twenty-odd years back. No idea what the resolution was in that case.

      Two things I note, here: (1) proposed sale of lunar material invites close scrutiny by the Feds; and (2) the Feds don't seem to be claiming ownership without end, but instead inspection and enforcement of transfer to and among individuals.

      Makes me wonder whether such intervention on the part of the Federal Government is really out of line with handling of similar national treasures. (Yes, though given as goodwill trinkets to other nations, I do believe the expense and historical value of the materials in question qualify them as such.)

  2. other stolen rocks.. by Fuzzums · · Score: 5, Interesting

    one year ago there was a big diamond theft in amsterdam. No guns were used.
    the diamonds wee carried out thtough the front door in a microwavebox!

    [http://www.preciousgemstones.com/gffall01.html# th iev]
    $8 Million in Diamonds Stolen in Microwave
    In the Netherlands, a 25-year-old man calmly walked out of the offices of Amsterdam's Gassan Diamonds carrying a box stuffed with uninsured diamonds. He had arrived at the office with the box at the start of the working day, saying it contained a microwave oven. Benno Leeser, director of the 56-year-old family-run firm said, "He came with a microwave in the box, but he left with the diamonds." The suspect, said to be a former army cook who had worked for the firm since April, has vanished without a trace.

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  3. "Adventures" at NASA by collectspace · · Score: 2, Interesting
    The wonders the web holds. One of the defendents identified by agents as the ring leader maintained an autobiography on NASA JSC's Co-Op website (since removed by NASA but archived by collectSPACE.com).

    Quoting Thad Roberts:

    "At NASA I have been assigned to the coolest department of all. Formally known as the Earth Science and Solar System Exploration Division (ESSSE) it is now know as the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division (ARES). Most of the people in my building are Geologists, and that's how I got in here.

    "There are so many potential adventures to be had in my building."

    Somehow, I don't think NASA had his type of adventures in mind...

    (More on this story here.)

  4. Where is the news? by pieterh · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What is the real story here? 10oz of rock fragments for $2000-8000 per oz = $20-80k, not really a million dollar heist. This amounts to a theft of around 1/1400th of the total brought back from the moon. Big deal. It's the price of one new car.
    It's maybe worth commenting how law enforcement is starting to use the Internet to cross reference thefts with sales. But seriously: doing manual searches of e-Bay is not what I'd consider automation.
    Summer time... and the news is slow.

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  5. I don't get it by The+Mutant · · Score: 3, Interesting
    How on earth did they expect to get away with it, considering its relatively (in italics since I'm assuming folks like these would have clear knowledge) well known that possession of moon rocks by US citizens is illegal.

    Its even been discussed on /. before.

    Now that being said, its very common in the art world for works of art - sometimes priceless ones at that - to be stolen and to disappear into private collections.

    And I could fully understand if any one of these geeks took the rocks and stashed them away in their bedrooms. Hell, who wouldn't want a chunk of the moon in their bedroom?

    But to try to sell on the 'Net?!??

    I'm missing something here, but I guess its because was assuming they were bright.

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  6. Re:The "Moon": A Ridiculous Liberal Myth by Marx_Mrvelous · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If you're referring to any of the following "proof" that the landings didn't take place, then you need to do some real research:
    1. There was no crater under the lander.
    2. The shadows should have been completely dark.
    3. There are no stars in the night sky.
    4. You can see the letter "N" (or something) on a "prop" rock.
    5. You can see a reflection of a video camera, or an incorrect reflection (3rd spaceman, etc) in a visor.
    All of these "proofs" have been easily disproven. I'll enumerate:
    1. There will never be one, they approached the moon at several feet/sec. Do you hit the parking space at 100MPH?
    2. Simple physics: Light reflects. There are no truly dark shadows anywhere there is a light source that can reflect.
    3. The cameras were set to very fast exposure due to the extreme brightness so the stars did not have time to expose the film. (In addition, I beelive that there are stars in some of the real NASA pictures.)
    4. This is a scratch in the film; the real photo does not have this (or other imperfections that have been added by bad photocopies).
    5. I won't go into detail on all of them, but the imfamous "3rd spaceman" is actually an editied picture: again, it is not present in the originals.
    Go to the webpage previously referenced, it explains everything in detail.

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