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  Legal disputes over Apollo 11 sample bag (Page 2)

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Author Topic:   Legal disputes over Apollo 11 sample bag
SpaceAholic
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Posts: 5040
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 01-23-2019 08:45 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for SpaceAholic   Click Here to Email SpaceAholic     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Think she would have had better standing to pursue the claim if initiated prior to auctioning the item. It is unfortunate (seemingly almost vindictive) on the part of NASA to have apparently mistreated the artifact.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 48047
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 01-23-2019 10:49 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I suppose it comes down to when the damage was inflicted.

If the tear was made in the course of testing the stains for lunar origin, then NASA's own subsequent actions in attempting to retain the bag speaks against any type of retributive motive. If the tear was made later, then it a question of when and how it occurred.

Rick Mulheirn
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Posts: 4450
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 01-24-2019 04:28 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Rick Mulheirn   Click Here to Email Rick Mulheirn     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It could be argued that any damage caused during inspection of the bag by NASA adds value. The inspection is part of the remarkable provenance associated with the piece: any damage a result of NASA's authentication process.

The National Air and Space Museum suit collection for instance is littered with examples where repair or renovation might be an option but they prefer to conserve the pieces in their current condition as each flaw is part of "the story."

The tearing of the bag is just another chapter in the bag's story. If anything, the complainant should be thanking NASA: any distress in my opinion unnecessary, unjustified, self inflicted and the consequence of an ulterior motive.

With any luck her latest claims (or rather her greed) will cost her dear.

SpaceAholic
Member

Posts: 5040
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 01-24-2019 06:35 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for SpaceAholic   Click Here to Email SpaceAholic     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Until title was adjudicated, the government (particularly if it sustained the view that the artifact was a "national treasure") had an obligation to preserve it. Non destructive evaluation would have been the prudent approach.

mode1charlie
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Posts: 1316
From: Honolulu, HI
Registered: Sep 2010

posted 01-24-2019 12:53 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for mode1charlie   Click Here to Email mode1charlie     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Do we have any idea what kind / degree the tear is?

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 48047
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 01-24-2019 05:56 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The complaint submitted to the District Court of Kansas only refers to the damage in vague terms, e.g.
...the Bag had damage that had not existed either when Plaintiff bought the Bag or when Ziegler received it from Plaintiff.
There is a video on the prior page of this thread that shows Carlson inspecting the bag and pointing to what appears to be a tear when she was returned the bag. The video does not focus on the bag, so it is difficult to discern.

Sotheby's listing for the bag did not include a picture of the underside of the bag, but stated:

10 inch and 6 inch long parallel tears to underside of bag

mode1charlie
Member

Posts: 1316
From: Honolulu, HI
Registered: Sep 2010

posted 01-24-2019 08:53 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for mode1charlie   Click Here to Email mode1charlie     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks, Robert. Wow - those are indeed pretty major tears. I was imagining something very tiny and unnoticable. Those most certainly are not, and in fact I can't imagine how it could have occurred.

rgarner
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Posts: 1339
From: Shepperton, United Kingdom
Registered: Mar 2012

posted 01-25-2019 05:06 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for rgarner   Click Here to Email rgarner     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I too am incredibly surprised by the size of these tears. I thought maybe a 1cm at most. These are substantial tears and I can think of no logical reason for this level of damage. If this damage was done during the "inspection" of the bag then that is either incompetence, negligence or deliberate... I'm not sure which is worse. Either way, someone has a lot to answer for.

Chuckster01
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Posts: 1059
From: Orlando, FL
Registered: Jan 2014

posted 01-25-2019 05:49 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Chuckster01   Click Here to Email Chuckster01     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I am not a lawyer but it would seem that her case would be hard to pursue as the bag was sold and at an immense profit. It would seem this action should have taken place when she recovered the bag from NASA and before any sale.

Personally I hope her case is thrown out as it would seem she has no interest in the history or historical significance of the bag just in the cash cow it has turned out to be.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 48047
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 11-18-2020 12:00 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
collectSPACE
Law firm claims stake in tape strips used to lift moon dust off Apollo 11 sample bag

A Kansas City law firm has filed suit over what it claims is its financial stake in five small strips of possibly-moon-dust-stained carbon tape, extending an already complicated — and, at times, convoluted — legal saga that has surrounded a white zippered pouch that was used on the first moon landing mission 51 years ago.

The defendant, an Illinois real estate attorney who sold the Apollo 11 lunar sample return bag for $1.8 million, succinctly characterized the situation in the first line of a court filing with regards to the law firm of Wyrsch Hobbs Mirakian (WHM) and its attempt to enforce a lien on the tape strips.

"The story underlying this matter and other related litigated matters is long," the attorneys for Nancy Lee Carlson wrote in a motion that was filed with the District Court of Kansas in March.


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