What a nice......
Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:38 am
A US grandmother is facing criminal charges after attempting to sell a tiny piece of moon rock to cover health costs for her sick son.
NASA agents and local police stormed a California restaurant to arrest Joann Davis, 74, for trying to sell a speck of rock smaller than a grain of rice, Associated Press reported.
The sting took place in May, and Davis is now considering suing the space agency over what she says was excessive force used in her arrest.
Davis says the lunar rock was given to her husband by astronaut Neil Armstrong in the 1970s.
Anything collected on NASA's Apollo missions is considered government property and legally cannot be sold.
Davis revealed her intentions when she emailed a NASA contractor asking for advice for the best way to sell the rock.
"She must know that this is a questionable transaction because she used the term 'black market'," inspector-general agent Norman Conley said.
NASA set up a sting at a Denny's fast-food restaurant by offering to buy the rock back from Davis for US$1.7 million (A$1.6 million).
The 74-year-old was arrested at the restaurant by armed police in bullet-proof vests. Davis said the shock of the arrest caused her to lose control of her bladder — she was held for two hours and then released without immediate charge.
The NASA agents kept the moon rock.
The grandmother said she wanted to sell the rock to pay for her sick son's treatment and to leave an inheritance to her children.
Sellers of illicit moon rocks have been sent to jail in the past — in 2002 three NASA interns were caught trying to sell stolen rocks for up to $5000 a gram.
The US space program collected around 342kg of moon rock in its multiple lunar missions in the 1960s and 1970s.
A lot like the repsonse to the heavily armed and dangerous Vic protesters
NASA agents and local police stormed a California restaurant to arrest Joann Davis, 74, for trying to sell a speck of rock smaller than a grain of rice, Associated Press reported.
The sting took place in May, and Davis is now considering suing the space agency over what she says was excessive force used in her arrest.
Davis says the lunar rock was given to her husband by astronaut Neil Armstrong in the 1970s.
Anything collected on NASA's Apollo missions is considered government property and legally cannot be sold.
Davis revealed her intentions when she emailed a NASA contractor asking for advice for the best way to sell the rock.
"She must know that this is a questionable transaction because she used the term 'black market'," inspector-general agent Norman Conley said.
NASA set up a sting at a Denny's fast-food restaurant by offering to buy the rock back from Davis for US$1.7 million (A$1.6 million).
The 74-year-old was arrested at the restaurant by armed police in bullet-proof vests. Davis said the shock of the arrest caused her to lose control of her bladder — she was held for two hours and then released without immediate charge.
The NASA agents kept the moon rock.
The grandmother said she wanted to sell the rock to pay for her sick son's treatment and to leave an inheritance to her children.
Sellers of illicit moon rocks have been sent to jail in the past — in 2002 three NASA interns were caught trying to sell stolen rocks for up to $5000 a gram.
The US space program collected around 342kg of moon rock in its multiple lunar missions in the 1960s and 1970s.
A lot like the repsonse to the heavily armed and dangerous Vic protesters
