Boston-based auction house RR Auction
recently had an unusual lot:
40 milligrams of moon dust and 3 dead cockroaches
Their estimated value was over $400,000
But the auction was called an emergency call by NASA Stop
What's going on?
The lunar soil being auctioned this time
In 1969 Apollo 11 launched
Humanity's first lunar landing mission
Astronaut Armstrong said the famous sentence
"This is one small step for me,
But But it is a big step for all mankind.”
The footprints left by Armstrong on the moon
The lunar dust sample in this auction
is the one brought back from the moon by Apollo 11
Scientists want to know
whether the lunar soil is harmful to living things
So they ground about 2 kilograms of lunar dust
A part was put into a water tank to expose aquatic species
A part was mixed with food and fed to insects
Scientists did not find
The organisms died due to exposure to lunar dust
After that, NASA put German cockroaches that had eaten lunar soil corpses
were handed over to entomologist from the University of São Paulo
Marion Brooks for research
Swipe left (don’t slide if you are afraid of cockroaches)
Brooks dissected these cockroaches
and found nothing Signs of disease and pathogens
Lunar soil also did not damage the cockroach's stomach cells
The July 31, 1970 issue of Science published
"Apollo 11: Lower animals exposed to lunar material"
The paper explains 10 species Lower organisms
were exposed to lunar materials for 28 days
No pathological effects caused by exposure to lunar materials were found
But after the study was completed
NASA did not take back these samples
So Brooks collected three cockroaches, lunar soil samples
, news clippings, and postcards Hang them on the wall together as a memorial wall to commemorate Brooks. In 2007, Brooks passed away. Three years later, her daughter sold these souvenirs for 10,000 yuan. After that, they came to the RR Auction auction house and were appraised. After paying a high price of US$400,000,
NASA said: "According to regulations,
all Apollo samples belong to NASA.
No person, university or other entity is permitted
to retain them after analysis, destruction or use for any purpose,
especially for sale or personal display. "
The current auction has been suspended
NASA lawyers asked the auction house to cooperate with the current owners
Return these materials
After reading this story
I can't help but raise some doubts about NASA's ability to manage space objects
...
The auction The bank also recently sold the manual controller handle of Apollo 17
Source: Comprehensive editor of China Popular Science Network
Picture source: RR Auction
Editor: Mao Mengnan
Review: Wang Fei
Final review: Chen Lei
