Slashdot Mirror
Neil Armstrong's Widow Discovers Moon Camera In Bag
hypnosec writes Over 40 years after Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 trip, a hidden bag full of artifacts has been discovered by his widow Carol Armstrong. Carol found the bag after Neil's death shortly after he underwent heart surgery. The bag contained a total of 20 items including the priceless 16mm movie camera that recorded Apollo 11's descent to the surface of the moon, an optical alignment sight used by the crew for docking maneuvers, and a waist tether among other things. The bag and its contents are now on loan to the National Air and Space Museum for preservation, research and eventual public display.
Past the statute of limitations; he's dead; and I'm sure we can agree that Neil f*ing Armstrong can keep a memento/be forgiven for overlooking a memento or two. And how do you know no one said "shit Neil, keep it if it means so much to you". I know I would have.
Buzz Aldrin needs to punch you in the face.
The astronauts were paid their regular military salaries, plus hazardous duty pay. It was a pittance. In order to compensate these men more fully The United States Congress authorized, through legislation, that astronauts could keep spent NASA equipment as mementos. It was always one of the 'unwritten rules' at NASA during that era. It wasn't until years later that it was questioned by some bureaucrat and the legislation was needed to end and questions
So no theft or questionable loans were involved.
I used to work at the California Museum of Science and Industry. Every once in a while they would do a purge of really old stuff that had been stored in the basements for decades. They would rent a giant dumpster and hire people to haul stuff out to fill it up. We were not only told that we could have anything we found in there, but we were given time to dig through it during work time. Why? Because it fed our scientific nerdyness, making us more enthusiastic science museum employees. Because the more stuff we could find a new home for, the less they had to pay to haul away.
The only rule was that those who decided what to throw out couldn't then go and get it out of the dumpster.
Of course, that was before eBay. Nowadays, I am sure they have someone whose job it is to post that kind of stuff on eBay and sell it to help fund the museum.
There is absolutely NO ethical problem with taking home surplus from work, if it is truly surplus and you have permission.