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How an Intern Stole NASA's Moon Rocks

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the or-maybe-not dept.

schwit1 submitted a story telling the strange tale of how in 2002, rogue NASA interns stole millions of dollars in moon rocks from a building designed not to let that happen. I'd suggest taking the whole thing with a little bit of salt.

11 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. salt not required by Kartoffel · · Score: 5, Informative

    Haven't read TFA yet, but the general story is true. I worked at JSC and knew Shae.

    The samples were in a floor safe that they rolled out of the building on a dolly. The sting was set up as if a Belgian rockhound wanted to buy some of the samples, and they agreed to meet in Florida. The 3 other interns crossed state lines for the sting. Shae stayed in TX that weekend to attend scuba classes.

    1. Re:salt not required by Burkin · · Score: 3, Informative

      The part about taking it with a grain of salt was added by Rob after the fact. Had you taken the minuscule effort required to click on the firehose link below the article, you'd have found this out.

  2. This article is hoplessly wrong pulp fiction by modemboy · · Score: 5, Informative

    Not only is it somewhat painful to read, as far as I can tell it is mostly fiction, no fact checking at all. And it also seems partially plagiarized from this article:
    http://www.latimes.com/features/printedition/magazine/la-tm-moonrocks23jun06,1,1392690.story?coll=la-home-magazine

    And that one is by an actual reporter with actual fact checking. Obviously some of it is left up to how the perpetrators described it, but it doesn't have stupid made up stuff like a nitrogen filled lab and thermal suits and such. I would guess the crime played out more like the LA Times article, rather than this embellished piece of pulp fiction

    1. Re:This article is hoplessly wrong pulp fiction by femtobyte · · Score: 5, Informative

      I did a summer internship with NASA a few years after this incident, and of course the interns all got a nice tour of the moonrock facility.

      As modemboy points out, the "nitrogen filled lab" and such is pure bunk. The moonrocks are kept in nitrogen-purged safes (and in a separate room with nitrogen-filled gloveboxes used for preparing samples to send out to researchers), but the room containing the safes isn't itself filled with nitrogen. There is an "air-lock," but it's the usual type of clean-room airlock, used to keep out dust between the changing room where you suit up in disposable clean-room clothes and the lab itself.

    2. Re:This article is hoplessly wrong pulp fiction by VAXcat · · Score: 4, Informative

      "NASA is the only place that can verify the authenticity of a moon rock. They would not guarantee that they would give it back. A moon rock is a national treasure. A national treasure can not be owned so it can't be legally sold." Not so - not all moon rocks came from the US Apollo missions. The USSR brought moon rocks back via automated sample return missions.

      --
      There is no God, and Dirac is his prophet.
    3. Re:This article is hoplessly wrong pulp fiction by dumuzi · · Score: 4, Informative
      I had to do a lab analyzing the estrous cycle of rats. I can assure you they do fart, and they don't seem the least bit embarrassed by their public flatulence.

      Others have studied the rats gaseous emissions directly.

      http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/845703

    4. Re:This article is hoplessly wrong pulp fiction by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 4, Informative

      IIRC there was some confusion on the issue awhile back in that some small moon rocks were sealed inside paperweights and given as gifts very early on. This caused some brouhaha when someone who found themselves in possession of one wanted it authenticated and NASA hadn't known about it.

      --
      Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
  3. Re:Blech by Kartoffel · · Score: 5, Informative

    Thad was a real type-A personality type. Very self confident and extroverted. I don't know much about how the other students got involved in the heist, but I'd imagine Thad was the ringleader.

    Shae was probably allowed in on the plan because she could have supplied the scuba gear for breathing in the nitrogen-purged storage room. There's no reason they would have needed wetsuits, though.

  4. Re:Blech by Kartoffel · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually come to think of it... I don't think any ROOMS in 31N are purged. If anything, only the samples themselves are stored in gastight purged containers.

    The breathing gear stuff is probably completely salt-worthy. All I know is Shae was going for a scuba cert at the time, and that's why she wasn't in Florida with the other 3 when they got busted.

  5. Better written LATimes article by wanax · · Score: 3, Informative

    Can be found here.

  6. Picture of Tiffany - You know you're curious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    yeah yeah this isn't fark, but how often do we get cute female cat burglars to ogle at?

    http://www.baylor.edu/biology/index.php?id=32089 /would hit it