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Sauce

http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-020615b-neil-armstrong-artifacts-purse.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/neil-armstrong-widow-found-apollo-11-artifacts-closet-article-1.2107517

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2944854/Neil-Armstrong-s-secret-bag-moon-landing-mementos-supposed-remain-space-discovered-widow-closet.html



ITEMS FOUND IN NEIL ARMSTRONG'S BAG OF APOLLO 11 MOMENTOS
1. Temporary stowage bag, the 'purse'
2. Power cable
3. Power cable and utility light
4. Power cable and utility light
5. Utility clamp
6. Utility clamp
7. Crewman Optical Alignment Sight mirror device
8. Filter for COAS (number 7)
9. Light bulb assembly
10. Waist tether
11. Helmet straps
12. 16mm camera used to film landing and flag planting
12a. Bracket for camera
12b. 10mm lens for camera
13. Lens shade
14. Eye guard assembly
15. Mirror
16. Wrench
17. Waste management cover
18. Netting


The items are going on display in th Smithsonian soon, I hope however the Armstrong family get to keep the relics and display then where they wish when they wish. They were supposed to have been left behind, so if Neil Armstrong kept them so be it, it's not like he didn't deserve them.

I wonder how many hours he spent reminiscing over the contents of the bag over the next 40 years.

I hope they washed them well.

I know what I and my wife do with the science props we have in our closet.

You have to be fairly interesting to find eighteen ways out of that mix of objects.

"The waste management cover tonight darling".....I just can't envisage that happening.

 Orlanth wrote:

The items are going on display in th Smithsonian soon, I hope however the Armstrong family get to keep the relics and display then where they wish when they wish. They were supposed to have been left behind, so if Neil Armstrong kept them so be it, it's not like he didn't deserve them.

NASA used to get kind of touchy when it comes to used equipment, since all of that stuff is government property. However, in 2012 a law was passed that allowed astronauts to keep (or sell) Mercury, Gemini and Apollo-era stuff that they took when they left the agency. In 2010, NASA had tangled with Jim Lovell (Apollo 13) and Edgar Mitchell (Apollo 14) over a mission checklist and a camera, respectively, that they had tried to sell. The law a couple years later changed that though.

So yes, his widow will get to keep all of this stuff, though I'm sure she'd rather see it on display for the world to enjoy.

Maybe Brian William will offer the widow some $$$ so that he can truly have a piece of history in his mancave.

I don't know how thrilled I feel about them selling it, but I don't really see a problem with them keeping a souvenir.

It's basically the same as veterans selling war memento in my book. Technically, it was probably illegal for them to take that stuff, but I don't really see the harm years after the fact. It's honestly a really good way for pieces history to find it's way to the public. A lot of little items that might get overlooked by government penny pinchers and what not that could otherwise be lost to time. The kind of things that soldiers (or in this case astronauts) hold on to can say a lot about their lives and what events meant to them.

Say someone had taken some marble from one of Saddam's palaces. Would that person be allowed to sell it

 LordofHats wrote:
Technically, it was probably illegal for them to take that stuff, but I don't really see the harm years after the fact.

NASA knew that these astronauts kept artifacts from the their missions, often times with expressed permission from NASA authorities. Most of the stuff that is the hands of astronauts were expendable mission items (stuff that would have been left in the LM and then crashed into the Moon) or personal disposable items (like hygiene kits). The biggest issue was that there was a lot of ambiguity over who maintained ownership; it wasn't well addressed in NASA protocols and there was often no paperwork showing transfer of ownership (and NASA loves paperwork). It also wasn't really a problem NASA cared about until five or so years ago.

The bill in 2012 changed all of that, confirming that all artifacts kept by the astronauts are their property and they may do with them what they wish. However, the bill only covers the time between the Mercury-Redstone 3 mission and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, Shuttle-era and current artifacts are a different story under a different (and somewhat ambiguous) set of guidelines. Also, they cannot claim ownership of any lunar rocks or other lunar material.

 whembly wrote:
Maybe Brian William will offer the widow some $$$ so that he can truly have a piece of history in his mancave.

But but but but.............


He was THERE!!!