posted 07-20-2017 09:44 AM               

At the end of June 1969, during Count Down Demonstration test (CDDT), I was asked to do an emergency squib valve replacement within LM 5 decent stage. At the time, Apollo 11 was was staged for launch on Pad 39A. We had to enter the SLA (Spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter) where the Lunar Module Eagle was secure within the Saturn V rocket.

As with most repairs on the LEM, as we referred to it, Kapton foil insulating blankets (as much as 25 layers) had to be removed to gain access to the repair area. Realizing the historical significance of Kapton foil removed from Apollo 11 days before launch, I kept several layers.

I received the Silver Snoopy award signed by Alan Beam for performing this repair. A copy will be sent along with my letter of authenticity. This is probably the only thing that exist from LM 5. The first LM to land on the moon. Size is app. 24x25 inches.

This piece has the mylar tape that sealed the seam and is a full sheet as removed from LM during replacement of the squib valve.

posted 08-23-2017 01:51 PM               

Realizing the historical significance of Kapton foil removed from Apollo 11 days before launch, I kept several layers.

posted 08-23-2017 04:31 PM               

I do not believe there is much if any Kapton foil from any mission that was not improperly removed and retained. The standard for Apollo was very lax and not only did Lee Brandt retain the Kapton foil that he removed from the lunar module Eagle, it was with the blessing of his supervisors and he was given an accommodation for not holding up the launch.

posted 08-23-2017 04:47 PM               

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Originally posted by Chuckster01:
...more then half of all of the Apollo era artifacts where "kept" by space workers.

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posted 08-24-2017 02:40 AM               

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Originally posted by Chuckster01:
Mike, more then half of all of the Apollo era and a heck of a lot of shuttle-era artifacts where "kept" by space workers.

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Just because they got it X years ago and have had it ever since doesn't mean that they hold a legitimate title to it. "Possession is 9/10ths blah blah blah" doesn't apply to government property.

People like David Abbey learned that the hard way.

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it was with the blessing of his supervisors

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You also make the assumption that his supervisors had the authority to make that call. If they didn't, the title is no more legitimate and legal than if I told him he could keep it. Deaccession channels and policies trump all, including the word of a supervisor.

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and he was given an accommodation for not holding up the launch.

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I personally know Lee and I have no issues with his legitimate title to the Kapton foil he is selling.

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You even said yourself that you "do not believe there is much if any Kapton foil from any mission that was not improperly removed and retained." If you truly believe that there may not have been any Kapton that wasn't improperly removed and/or retained, then how can you also say that Lee or any private individual has a legitimate title to it?

posted 08-24-2017 05:07 AM               

How about the thousands of collectors who possess program items purchased at auction, through dealers or on eBbay, without the proper disposal documentation. Are they in possession of stolen property?

Do you then consider every auction house that has sold a space artifact without what you deem as proper disposal paperwork as selling stolen property?

posted 08-24-2017 05:33 AM               

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
I question that assertion of "more than half" — depending on how you're defining artifacts.

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I personally have and know many people who have items that where purchased through reputable dealers and well known auction houses that did not come with disposal paperwork. Many of the items in my collection have been purchased through collectSPACE members that also had no such paperwork.

As I have been in this for many many years I know as we all do as the number of artifacts that have rock solid disposal paperwork (and I do not mean scrap tags) is few and far between. These items are in the collecting realm but did the person who kept these items many years ago have the proper disposal paperwork? This I do not know but they are commonly sold and purchased by people with impeccable reputations.

posted 08-24-2017 09:40 AM               

Keep in mind that similar Kapton segments were freely distributed to KSC visitors, especially for open house functions, that had prior permission for its release.

posted 08-24-2017 09:49 AM               

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Originally posted by Chuckster01:
...I think we should all start calling the OIG and NASA.

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That was the crux of the issue that led to the 2012 astronaut memento law. The Office of Inspector General and NASA's general counsel was trying to apply modern day accounting practices to Apollo-era policies, which were unwritten or kept out of the public record. (The law was more about reconciling the two than it was about setting new precedent.)

There are numerous, well documented examples of Apollo-era employees being invited by their supervisors to keep mementos, and only a few examples of NASA taking exception to those mementos decades later. Certainly, if an item is museum worthy (e.g. a complete artifact) and doesn't have a clear chain-of-ownership consistent with NASA's records, then it is subject to OIG inquiry. And any loose lunar material is subject to confiscation.

But Kapton removed pre-flight as part of a repair would have been treated as garbage, similar to the broken bolt off the hatch on John Glenn's Friendship 7, which famously ended up in both "Mac" McDonnell's and Guenter Wendt's possession, simultaneously (Wendt later admitted he had the real bolt).

Kapton removed from LM-5 pre-flight would not, during the Apollo-era, be considered by NASA an artifact. That is different than how the agency approached Kapton post-flight, but even then, a good deal of it was stripped off as part of post-flight inspections.

There were official flown Kapton lucite displays, and, as well known, there were quite a few unauthorized souvenirs taken by members of the recovery and post-flight processing teams. The latter was removed improperly (but there is also no physical way to trace the Kapton back to its original spacecraft).