[meteorite-list] NASA sues Moonwalker Astronaut

[MexicoDoug]

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90053154?U.S.%20government%20sues%20former%20astronaut%20over%20lunar%20camera#ixzz1R7PMDp3p

Dear list,

This is a very relevant case to meteorites and should not be taken 
lightly.

They're at it again ... rewriting history and after 40 years of NASA's 
permission to take mementos from the Apollo era - now suing the sixth 
man to walk on the moon, Edgar Mitchell of Apollo 11, for trying to 
sell the camera they allowed him to have ... the precedent, I suspect 
is the identical one to the dust on the tape, which didn't exist, but 
they are gunning for now.

Again, we are faced with the erosion of sensible property rights, a 
violation of traditional English and Roman law regarding the importance 
of possession IMO, in an effort to legislation effort from the bench at 
its finest (sarcasm). The question at hand: Can we apply today's 
standards retroactively to say NASA was wrong to allow astronauts to 
have things that were of no use to NASA at the time and with the full 
knowledge of NASA allowed to be kept by those involved. After 40 years 
of knowledge that the astronaut possessed this camera and other sundry 
things, it becomes a precedent, and NASA is even painting an American 
hero with a scarlet letter of "T" for "Thief"....

>From the article:

"During the Apollo mission era, Mitchell said he and other astronauts 
got permission to take mementos from the spacecrafts. "We have dozens 
of pieces. All of us who flew to the moon," he said in a Palm Beach 
Post report.

Mitchell’s lawyer, Donald Jacobson, said, "Objects from the lunar trips 
to the moon were ultimately mounted and then presented to the 
astronauts as a gift after they had helped NASA on a mission."

The government is asking the court to order Mitchell to hand over the 
camera, and declare that it has "good, clean and exclusive title" to 
the piece of space history.


Best wishes
Doug