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Piece of the Moon for Sale
Symon Gold writes "A desk set purportedly containing a piece of moon rock is up for auction at Lelands.com. Listing here. The New York Times (free registration required) has a story about the piece--a retirement gift given to Joe Healy, an engineer at NASA's Lunar Receiving Laboratory who worked on the Apollo missions and who died a decade ago. The auction runs until 9 p.m. on December 4th with an opening bid of $50,000."
For Right Price, a Bit of the Moon, Perhaps
By KENNETH CHANG
Published: November 27, 2003
he desk set -- a few pieces of plastic amateurishly glued together -- is battered and scratched. The pen was snapped off years ago. On the left side is a yellowing blob of epoxy in the shape of a rock. On the right is a small plaque: "Presented to Joe Healy from his friends at LRL."
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Cost: at least $50,000, the minimum bid in an Internet auction now under way.
This plain-looking piece -- a retirement gift to Mr. Healy, an engineer at NASA's Lunar Receiving Laboratory who worked on the Apollo missions and who died a decade ago -- is believed to contain some of the rarest material on Earth: fragments of the Moon.
The fragments are small -- specks really, embedded within the epoxy blob, smaller than the air bubbles and harder to spot -- but they nonetheless appear to be the largest sample of Apollo moon rock ever to be offered for sale, at least legally.
"It's got magic attached to it, don't you think?" said Mr. Healy's daughter, Margaret Davis of The Dalles, Ore., who is putting the piece up for sale. "It's really from the Moon."
NASA, however, will not vouch for it. The space agency examined it under a microscope in 1999. In a statement released when the desk set was returned to Mrs. Davis, NASA said that "the particles submitted for testing did not exhibit any characteristic features commonly associated with lunar soil" and that more extensive testing could not be conducted without destroying it.
As of yesterday evening, no one had bid on the item. The auction continues until 9 p.m. on Dec. 4.
"The serious bidders usually don't show their hand until the last day," said Bruce Mauro, acquisitions manager for Leland's Inc., an auction house in Seaford, N.Y., that is handling the auction. "They all lay back in the weeds. If there's going to be a bid on it, it'll probably be then."
(The auction can be viewed at www.lelands.com by clicking on the "Americana" link and then the "Space" link.)
In the three decades since the Apollo landings, NASA has jealously guarded most of the 843 pounds of Moon rock collected by the astronauts. The space agency considers them "national treasures," property of the federal government, although a few pieces were given as gifts to foreign governments.
In September, the United States returned to Honduras a Moon rock that President Richard M. Nixon gave the country in 1973, but that was later stolen and ended up with a dealer in Miami. Last year, three interns at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston stole a safe containing Moon rocks valued at $2.5 million to $7 million. The three pleaded guilty to the theft, and a conspirator, who offered the rocks for sale on the Internet, was convicted at a trial in June.
For legal lunar material, collectors have had to content themselves with rocks brought back by unmanned Soviet probes or with pieces of clothing and equipment stained with Moon dust. Three Russian Moon pebbles sold for $442,500 at Sotheby's in 1993.
When Mr. Healy retired in 1970, his colleagues pulled fragments from a box of Apollo 11 rocks and mixed them into a blob of epoxy shaped like the first Moon rock to be put on public display. The desk set also includes two pieces of Mylar from the Apollo 11 and 12 lunar landers.
Soon thereafter, NASA administrators sent out memorandums telling employees not to give away lunar samples, but no one asked Mr. Healy to return his desk set. He often took it to schools to show it to children.
"He kept it in a shoebox," his daughter, Mrs. Davis, said, "and when he didn't have it out showing it to someone, he had it under his bed."
Over the years, the epoxy, once clear, has turned amber, and Mr. Healy's wife, Cynthia, snapped the pen off one day when she needed something to write with.
With the death of the Healys, the desk set passed to Mrs. Davis, who kept it in a safe-deposit box. She planned to do
I guess you got ripped off by paypal too many times.
I hope that in a few years the guy who buys this will be kicking himself for wasting money on a rock, instead of saving for a trip to the moon which could be practical in 10 years.
Celebrities are like ads, if we all ignore them, they'll just go away.
I was under the impression it was illegal to sell moon rocks.
To each their own, right? Why the rant?
Why didn't they auction it on eBay? I mean, there are competitors to eBay now?
OK, I'm joking. But really I do wonder what their reasons were.
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
I think it will be overpriced. I believe the day is comming when we will all be able to take tours of the moon and mars. I believe the space program is most important for all people. What is out there in space? Are we alone? How did the universe form? Are our physics and math in a vacum of how they work on earth, like a lillypop in a lake? These are all valid questions about our exsistance. Sure, let the rich people pave the way by purchasing a novelty or trinket at an expensive price. Hopefully, these kinds of sales will spark interest in space exploration, and everyone will benifit.
Rosco: "If brains were gunpowder, Enos couldn't blow his nose."
Sorry, the desk with the +5 Resistance to Fire magical properties was bid on last week. I'm afraid a chunk of extraterrestial rock is the best we can hope for this week.
The american public payed millions of dollars of taxes to send a man to the moon and bring back moon rocks. Therefore, I find it strange and wrong that moon rocks can be in private hands.
Everybody paid to bring the rocks here, and therefore these rocks should belong to all American people, not to private owners.
"Entropy is the bad-guy, and he is everywhere"
1. take some dirt from your backyard.
2. put it in a fancy glass thingy.
3. sell it.
4. PROFIT!!!!!
this particular piece may be authentic but i'm pretty sure that somebody has done the 1.2.3.4 thing above for moonrocks. i mean, if there's something thats worthless as it is but worth something because it is there are people who will try to cheat out some of that cash going around. i mean at one point there was something like many tons of the cross that jesus carries in bible circulating around collectors, if somebody doesn't go to moon soon enough there will be such a situation in time with moonrocks as well(and probably will be anyways for the "ah but this is from the first mission" rocks).
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
They also disallowed auctions of all WTC memorabilia (even that ashtray you really bought there in 1982) shortly after 9/11, and auctions of anything even claiming to be Shuttle Columbia debris before most of it hit the ground.
Brackets contain world's first nanosig, highly magnified:[.]
Face it, the moon is a dump. It's a boring, dried up wasteland, and the only reason anybody ever comes here is for the tacky little amusement park. Can't you just accept that?
you'll have lots of rocks to sell.
Can you even imagine a beowulf cluster of...
Why do break in's always have Nixon's name somewhere in the paragraph?
Rosco: "If brains were gunpowder, Enos couldn't blow his nose."
This makes the moon rock the most expensive paper weight ever!
Why isn't parent modded down -1 Flamebait ;) ?
Moon rocks do have magical properties, have you never seen Halloween 3
They better have been careful not to have taken that piece off of my land. I've got mineral rights, you know.
You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. The impossible just takes a little longer.
if you can sell me some jupiter rock.
When anger rises, think of the consequences.
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)
I predict that within 10 years Wal-Mart will carry moon rocks imported from the Chinese, who will have a mine on the moon by then and bring rock back by the ton. Get ready for "pet moon rocks" and "moon mood rings" on the shopping channel too.
It's not a desk, it's a "desk set" for on a desk.
HA! I can beat that offer, on E-bay I'm selling 1-acre lots on the moon starting at $20,000. Perfect for your next home building project. Building your next home on the moon has many perks: 1. No Pollution - at least not yet 2. No pollen - great for people with allergies 3. Spectacular views of the planet Earth with ocean front views. Mission to the moon, taxes, rocket fuel, and NASA clearence fee, building permit, and contractors to build you house, sold seperatly. Buy now and get 1000 free hours of AOL via satelite to planet Earth.
A few specks of moondust that would otherwise be sitting in a cupboard/safe somewhere.
Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
I know someone (an astrophysicist) who has diamonds from outside the solar system (the result of dissolving a piece of meteorite)... Doesn't look like much though (they're so small it's just dust, stored in a liquid).
I wonder if it could also reach such high prices. (When I looked at it I didn't think it could be worth anything, if only because there's no way you can tell it's from there)
DeBeers claims that a "natural" diamond is worth much, much more than a visually indistinguishable and chemically identical diamond made in the lab last Tuesday. It is priceless simply because it came from deep inside the earth, formed by intense heat and pressure over millions of years.
Similarly, a few tiny chunks of the moon are worth $50,000 while a chemically identical chunk of rock from Colorado (olivine, with traces of ilmenite and iron oxides) is basically worthless (maybe $5/ton if you bought itin bulk).It's all about the brand, baby. Symbolism sells.
How do you know it's not magical, huh? Can you prove that this $50,000 moon rock won't keep moon monsters away?
Yes, for we are swimming in moon specks.
It's got a cool/unique aspect to it that's going to make it sell for a lot.
Remember those yahoos who stole and tried to sell a full-fledged moon rock?
The key to the enjoyment of pop music is to replace any instance of "love" with "C.H.U.D."
Why not fly the shuttle to the moon and fill her up?
It's well capable and has the necessary landing ability.
They could bring back 20 tons of paydirt and solve the national debt!!
I'm a geek. I haven't thrown out anything.
It's not a desk, it's a desk set: A little plaque and model.
It's not made of moon rock, it's got a resin model of a moon rock on it with TINY FLECKS from the box the rocks were brought back in attached to it.
lysergically yours
I hope Major Nelson got one too.
Does it have "The Moon" written all the way through?
$258,000 for the Clichy Basket of Flowers, auctioned in 1990 by Sotheby's. Go figure.
To be fair, I think it would be fair to pay with 50 "presumable" $1000 bills encased in a big blob of resin shaped like a sucker.
Never at a loss for words... because of the voices.
and the mods are fucking retards for modding the parent as a troll.
Damn! Foiled again. :)
Who needs rocks.. I want my own mooninite ATHF They can jump WAY higher then us, smoke when they shoot the bird.... and have the powerful QUAD-LASER... much cooler than some stupid rocks.
Wouldnt you like to be a pepper too?
Just look out your window on any clear night when the Moon is in view, and there you are! The whole thing is Free, and paid for by God! A little chunk of it on your desk is not the same thing, espcially if you slaved away at a job somewhere to get the money to pay for it. If you yourself went up there and got it, then it has value. If others slaved away for you (employees) so you could buy it, then it has practically no value, unless you sell it to someone who wants it. If you stole the money to buy it, either from your Company or the Company you work for, then it probably has a curse on it.
as long as they dont sell pieces of ur-anus .. cus i would not want any of tht on my desk
Or cheese.
Why this human obsession with stuff from the ground? I'm more into digital rarities, like the newest game or software. That's what I value... not dirt, or minerals. But to each, their own, I guess, eh?
How much is the lastest game from a decade ago worth? How much is a diamond or a pound of gold from a decade ago worth?
Get it now?
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
For those who do not want to register for NYT
Here ya go
Marge, get me your address book, 4 beers, and my conversation hat.
now i'm off to the roof with a webcam to see if i can stream that cruise missile as it turns left over stockport and heads towards this IP address...
I'm disappointed in you, Taco. How could you miss an opportunity to run "the own-a-piece-of-the-rock dept."?
I have some ocean front property in Nebraska to sell - oh, it's real.
Patriot Act:US Freedoms::Patriot Missile:Iraqi civillians
So, sell now before the Chinese bring the stuff back in bulk and kill the market.
See the thread involving DeBeers and artificially created diamond shortages.
The US might do better to auction off a few small pieces to the highest bidders, if they were going to go that route for fundraising.
What's the difference? In a few year's we will look back at the "newest game or software" and wonder why the hell we made that. (read: It's only 3D??)Diamonds etc are a rarity, thus due to supply and demand they are assigned a large value. Software is so incredibly accessible it is given a lower value (relatively). I'll agree that 50K is ridiculous for a desk, but not everyone has a piece of the moon now do they? It's simple economics. when Supply ) Demand prices go down. its that simple
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember reading where PRIVATE ownership of Moon rocks was Illegial? Searching Google, I can't find an exact statue to cite, just a bunch of references stating its illegial for me as a private citizen of the US to own a moon rock?? no wonder I never got that one I wanted for christmas :(
Whats the point of buying a small chunk of the moon if you cant visit it? If you buy the land, then you will have to be trained as an astronaut and then you will have to travel the distance to get there. This costs extra money in itself.
----- Friends, l33tists, l4m3z0rs! Lend me thy keyboards.
begin Indiana Jones mode "It belongs in a museum" end Indinana Jones mode
Yes, I'm serious. Go to www.lunarembassy.com and you can read all about it. The legality is questionable, lawyers have dissected it and the best answer I've seen is "I don't know". So I decided to buy 2 acres on the moon. I figured we'll go there again during my lifetime, so why not try to own a bit. It was only like $40 for two acres...not too bad.
:)
The company IS real, it is not a scam. I have seen the guy on talk shows and in the news, and I received my deeds of ownership. I thought it was cool because if it turns out he doesnt legally own the moon, then I'm only out $40 (not a big deal in the big scheme of things). And if it is real, then I own 2 acres on the moon!
disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the company that sells property on the moon in any way. I'm just a happy customer, its cool
Diamonds arn't quite as rare as you may think, and given the restrictions (and stranglehold) that exist in their supply I would not call the economics of the Diamond market simple.
People have been talking about space tourism for a very long time but look at what's happened so far. Manned space travel is more or less at a standstill. Certainly there's technological potential for a lot more but it's just not happening.
...when you can be the proud owner of property on the Moon!
Trolls lurk everywhere. Mod them down.
Isn't there some loony bin huckster that supposedly owns all claims to the moon and was (still is?) selling shares?
Wouldn't that rock be a stolen piece of his backyard? Call the cops!
What kind of lunatic would by a piece of dirt that from the lunar surface?
/me Pauses, and ponders fate.
Oh well at least it's not a total waste, I got a very fancy glass jar.
Man, three years ago I bought my Dad an acre of land on Io from a booth at the mall around Christmastime. It only cost me 10 bucks and it even came with a deed, although the guy printed that on-site with a shitty bubble jet.
Either way, he was also selling pieces of the moon, but owning land on our moon is like owning a cabin in Aspen - it may have been cool 30 years ago, but not anymore. Jupiter's moons are the next big thing, man.
[hmm... that post started and ended with "man"... maybe i need to get out more...]
...Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.
Churchill
50 grands opening bid and I couldn't even get 50$ for my Piece of Earth auction? BAH!
Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me
Now there's a concept: software as a digital rarity. How can digital information become rare, when it can be copied perfectly for just about nothing? Maybe someone ought to mention this to the record companies one day. They'll be shocked to learn that their product has very low value without them depending on an artificial scarceness, and I'm sure they'll drop their prices right away.
Set the wayback machine for 25 years ago or so. I remember some guy came to our elementary school and showed us moon rocks. I was impressed.
I mean, those rocks came from the freekin moon!
Good luck to the winner of that auction.
The Internet is generally stupid
eBay has an official category for meteorites, with nearly 1000 items listed.
I wonder why eBay feels it's OK to sell some things from space and not others. Is it legal to sell moon rocks, or are they all NASA's property through some sort of weird eminent domain? I can certainly understand forbidding Columbia items, that's just out of human decency, but the moon rock thing has me perplexed.
"BSD: Free as in speech. Linux: Free as in beer. Windows 10: Free as in herpes." --Man On Pink Corner in #52607549.
well, the Debeer's family owns and holds them all; so it'sbecoe a rarity
Because it's actually "the get-a-piece-of-the-rock dept.".
How much is the lastest game from a decade ago worth?
I recently sold a box of Sega Saturn games (CDs) on eBay. Went for about fifteen bucks.
A Good Intro to NetBS
You would think that big piece of cheese in the desk would stink by now!
Manipulate the moderator system! Mod someone as "overrated" today.
If a few fragments of moon rock are worth this much money, I am one seriously wealthy person.
A couple of years ago someone bought me a whole acre of the moon for my birthday!
I'm doing the financial calculations now but it's making my head hurt.
Diamonds etc are a rarity, thus due to supply and demand they are assigned a large value
No, this is due to cartel manipulation.
I'd be willing to bet that little fossil rocks with Trilobytes in them are far more rare than diamonds, yet trilobyte fossils are $1.25.
This isn't supply and demand, this is market manipulation.
How can digital information become rare, when it can be copied perfectly for just about nothing?
I'd say stuff like the source for Windows 2000 would be considered rare... and very valuable.
Some digital information can be considered very rare and valuable. But that's probably not the stuff this guy is talking about.
"This desk set wants to fly!" Oh hang on, part of it already has.
When I am king, you will be first against the wall.
.. of course it would stink. That's why they preserved and varnished the cheese - so you'll be okay as long as you're not planning to eat the moon-cheese.
Hey, watch it! I'll have you know that's genuine 100% official Clanger Poo.
That's freedom fries, you insensitive clod! Or have you forgotten how the French refused to help fight the evil Soup Dragon in the moon wars of 2054?
Its an EPOXY 'rock'. With maybe/possibly/probably not moon rock flecks in it from the mold! What a misleading story.
There are pieces of Apollo 11 & 12 on the front of the base though, thats kind of cool.
Nah, it's been done.
You can legally buy rocks from the moon for a buttload cheaper than $50,000 woven into plastic. Some meteorites that were collected after landing on Earth were found to have come from the moon. When a large object hits the moon, moon rocks are thrown into space and some of them land back on the Earth. This trick works for Mars, too. Here's a little piece of moon rock for under $1000, for instance.
I'd like some of that metallic hydrogen for my next casemod...
This comment does not exist.
Now if only a piece of JLo's moon were for sale...
"Has [being a kidnapped teenage girl, raped repeatedly for months] changed you?" - Katie Couric to Elizabeth Smart
'I don't know if you looked around before you left, but we've GOT rock! just laying about... oh wait Neil did you hear,.. while you were gone rock went up 3 points....no it didn't.. becuase it's just ROCK' --Eddie Izzard
.Sig. temporarily unavailable due to terminal lack of inventivness
Yeah it's moon rock, but ...
No, it's snot.
"It's well capable and has the necessary landing ability."
Uh, stop and think for 10 seconds. The shuttle lands on Earth using wings. Wings require air. Also the shuttle needs a decent landing strip, and to take off it needs a bunch of fuel, even in the moon's low gravity.
Unfortunately TV and movies are viewed as reality by most americans, nearly every show in space treats ships like planes in space; they're streamlined, winged, and they maneuver like dogfighting planes. Watch some Babylon 5 reruns.
O~ Him that studies revenge keeps his own wounds green. -- Francis Bacon
The slice of moon rock at the entrance to the Air and Space that you can touch must wear down like the steps to a medieval cathedral with all the people rubbing greasy fingerprints on it. Has that ever been replaced? And if so, who got the old bits of that germ-o-phobes worst nightmare?