posted 02-03-2011 02:42 PM               

Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. David Marich said the homeowner, David Abbey, is a suspect in the case, but has not been charged. Abbey at one time had access to tiles in his previous job with shuttle contractor United Space Alliance.

Marich said Abbey allegedly took tiles destined for disposal off KSC property and advertised them for sale on eBay, with prices reaching as high as $880 per tile.

posted 02-04-2011 06:48 AM               

Marich said the investigation began several months ago, after authorities received a tip from someone who was aware that shuttle tiles were being offered for sale on eBay.

While the tiles may have been designated for disposal, they still were NASA property, Marich said. Typically, he said, such tiles would have been donated to a museum or a school, or destroyed.

posted 02-04-2011 11:32 AM               

I know of four people online who routinely sell shuttle tiles, some have scrap paperwork, some don't and the ones that don't have sold many dozens without any issues.

At what point do the shuttle tiles or any other NASA property, not become their property? Can NASA confiscate anything that doesn't have a scrap tag or presentation document with it? If that's the case, how far back is NASA willing to go to recover artifacts.... Apollo, Gemini, Mercury?

I met a gentleman who worked at North American Aviation during Apollo, he was responsible for safing all of the spacecraft that came through Downey and he collected many of the flown silver oxide batteries. When I met him, he was interested in selling these flown batteries, but then he decided not to sell them for fear that NASA was going arrest him for having stolen Apollo batteries.

Even though it had been 30+ years, he seriously thought he would be arrested, so instead of selling me the batteries, he decided to melt them down into a silver slag and sold the metal to a scrap dealer. Yeah... my thoughts exactly.

It sounds like this tile seller had an enemy who dropped the dime on him to the NASA OIG. I wonder if the NASA OIG is watching eBay and they found out he was selling his dumpster finds.

posted 02-04-2011 11:43 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Spacepsycho:
At what point do the shuttle tiles or any other NASA property, not become their property?

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quote:

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If that's the case, how far back is NASA willing to go to recover artifacts.... Apollo, Gemini, Mercury?

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That said, according to an assistant district attorney I consulted for an earlier article, the burden of proof lies with the government. NASA would need to show that the item is still part of their inventory.

quote:

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I wonder if the NASA OIG is watching eBay and they found out he was selling his dumpster finds.

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...the investigation began several months ago, after authorities received a tip from someone who was aware that shuttle tiles were being offered for sale on eBay.

posted 02-12-2011 07:05 AM               

David A. Abbey, 50, of Cocoa was charged with grand theft, a third-degree felony, and dealing in stolen property, a second-degree felony...

She said seven of the sales were to people who lived outside the United States.

The people who bought the tiles were not charged, she said, because they were not aware of the circumstances that Abbey allegedly acquired them.

Straight said the investigation began after someone who bought a tile contacted NASA to find out what space shuttle missions the particular tile flew on. Each tile has a unique identifying number stamped on it.

When looking up the information, NASA determined that the tile in question should still have been on NASA property, she said.

"I'd just put it in my bag and walk out with it," Abbey told investigators, according to the affidavit. "Yeah, we knew it was wrong, but... we didn't think it was a big deal because, you know, everybody wants some souvenirs."

posted 02-12-2011 08:26 AM               

Straight said the investigation began after someone who bought a tile contacted NASA to find out what space shuttle missions the particular tile flew on. Each tile has a unique identifying number stamped on it.

When looking up the information, NASA determined that the tile in question should still have been on NASA property, she said.

posted 02-12-2011 12:46 PM               

She said seven of the sales were to people who lived outside the United States.

posted 02-12-2011 12:52 PM               

Seven of them were shipped overseas to foreign buyers, in violation of the Arms Export Control Act. Straight said, however, that no federal charges would be filed and that the buyers would not be charged because they didn't know the items were stolen.

posted 02-12-2011 01:03 PM               

...in violation of the Arms Export Control Act.

posted 02-18-2011 12:30 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
...one could submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for any documents relating to the tile's identification numbers.

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Curious about the flight history behind the tile that he had won from Abbey for $921.99, a winning bidder from Texas filed with NASA a Freedom of Information Act request.

The resulting search, according to the affidavit, found that the tile had been "bagged, tagged and routed to logistics on 2/6/07 for disposition" but was never received by the space agency's property disposal office.

Following that discovery, NASA agents examined Abbey's eBay sale history as well as arranged to bid on and win a tile that Abbey was then selling.

posted 02-19-2011 12:34 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by gliderpilotuk:
So, are these people in danger of a knock on the door in the middle of the night?

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posted 02-19-2011 01:21 PM               

To the larger issue, protecting yourself from buying stolen artifacts, Abbey's sales make for a good example. He was unable to provide any documentation supporting his legal ownership of the tiles and, at least in his auction descriptions, was unable to explain how he came into possession of them.

posted 02-19-2011 02:02 PM            

So let's say that the tiles are not requested to be returned. Does that then make it not a crime for those owners to resell them at a later date?

posted 02-19-2011 02:31 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Neil Aldrin:
Does that then make it not a crime for those owners to resell them at a later date?

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With regard to the tiles being distributed to the schools, any theft would be against the school. That said, were the school itself (or an official representative of such, i.e. a teacher) to attempt to sell the tile or give it away as a memento, NASA might get involved. The agreement states in part:

In addition, it should be understood that the material furnished to you is being furnished only for technology utilization purposes and should not, under any circumstances, be used for commercial purposes or as souvenirs. A perpetual restriction is placed on the property. When no longer needed, the donee must request disposition instructions from NASA.