NASA was rocked by a scandal when the Apollo 15 crew took unauthorized envelopes to the moon, planning to sell them later

[frauenfelder]

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/05/08/nasa-was-rocked-by-a-scandal-when-the-apollo-15-crew-took-unauthorized-envelopes-to-the-moon-planning-to-sell-them-later.html

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[KowboyBob]

@frauenfelder

this commercial scheme violated ethics rules against profiting from a space mission. When superiors caught wind of it months later, the Apollo 15 crew was removed from future flight assignments.

Like inflation, grifting has evolved quite a bit in the last 50 years. This is quite tame by modern standards.

[Karyudo]

@KowboyBob

grifting has evolved quite a bit in the last 50 years. This is quite tame by modern standards.

Yeah! The head of one current space contractor has gotten rich off government contracts, yet still poses as some sort of business genius, even as he runs a Nazi-affiliated social media site into the ground.

[Otherbrother]

I wonder how much money Armstrong and Aldrin could have got by selling their first hair or fingernail clippings after the Apollo 11 landing. Those items had been to the moon! And they couldn’t be accused of having smuggled them aboard without authorization.

[Mister44]

Stamp collecting used to be a bigger deal!

Also - didn’t Apollo 11 have a similar scheme where they had the astronauts sign a bunch of first day cover envelopes - or envelopes commemorating the launch, and they were held as a sort of insurance policy for the widows to sell if something when terribly wrong? Granted they didn’t go into space, but probably where they got the idea.

[anon65652885]

@Mister44

Stamp collecting used to be a bigger deal!

About a decade ago, we were surprised to discover how much the world had changed when a conversation about stamps and letters got a blank look from a friend’s 10-year-old son. He had absolutely no idea what we were talking about, which made perfect sense - he’d never seen anyone apply a postage stamp.

[lastchance]

This was a plot point in Heinlein’s story The Man Who Sold the Moon, too.

[Mister44]

Man, as a kid I loved the little colorful artworks on letters! Both grandpas collected stamps, my dad’s dad very casually, but I got his books. My mom’s dad was a regular collector and he would buy me plate blocks (I didn’t understand what those were - i thought it was just 4 stamps - but no, its the numbers, which I removed on a lot of mine at some point - doh. OH well.) He also would get me the USPS book where it has pictures of all the stamps. Loved those things, so colorful!

He had a ton of plate blocks that ended up selling at an estate sale for way less than it should have. I am so miffed about that and this book from the Navy about every nut and bolt in a Wasp Jr engine that he was trained on to repair. He also had sheets of older stuff but I don’t know where that is. Maybe I should ask my older aunt. He used books I don’t know what happened to them. Hrm.