Photo: Courtesy Of Christopher McHugh, Attorney For Nancy Carlson

(Photo courtesy of Christopher McHugh, attorney for Nancy Carlson)

Images from the moon landing

Images from the moon landing

Apollo 11 (Lift off July 16, 1969): Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. 'Buzz' Aldrin, the first men to land on the moon, plant the U.S. flag on the lunar surface on July 20, 1969.

Apollo 11 (Lift off July 16, 1969): Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. 'Buzz' Aldrin, the first men to land on the moon, plant the U.S. flag on the lunar surface on July 20, 1969.

Apollo 11 (Lift off July 16, 1969): Astronaut Edwin E. ``Buzz'' Aldrin Jr. walks on the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969.

Apollo 11 (Lift off July 16, 1969): Astronaut Edwin E. ``Buzz'' Aldrin Jr. walks on the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969.

Visitors to the Kenndy Space Center in Florida get the opportunity to compare their own foot to a replica of that left by Armstrong when he first stepped on the moon.

Visitors to the Kenndy Space Center in Florida get the opportunity to compare their own foot to a replica of that left by Armstrong when he first stepped on the moon.

Visitors look at the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in July 2003, in Washington, DC.

Visitors look at the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in July 2003, in Washington, DC.

One of several spacesuits belonging to Armstrong.

One of several spacesuits belonging to Armstrong.

Armstrong walks back from the lunar ladder after stepping down on the surface of the moon. He became the first human to set foot on the planet after the lunar module landed.

Armstrong walks back from the lunar ladder after stepping down on the surface of the moon. He became the first human to set foot on the planet after the lunar module landed.

Neil Armstrong.

Neil Armstrong.

In this July 21, 1969 file photo provided by NASA, mission control personnel watch the moon walk by Apollo 11 astronauts, in Houston.

In this July 21, 1969 file photo provided by NASA, mission control personnel watch the moon walk by Apollo 11 astronauts, in Houston.

In this July 20, 1969 file photo, the Apollo 11 lunar module rises from the moon's surface for docking with the command module and the trip back to earth. The Earth can be seen rising in the background.

In this July 20, 1969 file photo, the Apollo 11 lunar module rises from the moon's surface for docking with the command module and the trip back to earth. The Earth can be seen rising in the background.

This July 16, 1969 file photo shows the Apollo 11 blastoff to the moon from Cape Kennedy, Fla.

This July 16, 1969 file photo shows the Apollo 11 blastoff to the moon from Cape Kennedy, Fla.

This July 20, 1969 file photo released by NASA shows Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr. removing a scientific experiment from the Lunar Module "Eagle" during the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission.

This July 20, 1969 file photo released by NASA shows Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr. removing a scientific experiment from the Lunar Module "Eagle" during the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission.

NASA ordered to return historic lunar bag, moon dust to highest bidder

Nancy Lee Carlson will finally get her moon dust back.

A federal judge Friday ordered the Johnson Space Center to return the Illinois woman's lunar collection bag and the dusty specimens left inside from the historic 1969 moon landing.

The bag and its contents - a rare find that a NASA lawyer deemed a "national treasure" - had languished at the space center for more than a year after scientists decided to keep it.

NEW PLANETS: Scientists announce discovery of seven, Earth-size exoplanets 40 light years away

"There are no other lunar bags out there," said Joseph Gutheinz, a former NASA enforcement officer and moon rock hunter who supported Carlson's effort. "It's unique as all get out. And because of that, the value of that bag is incalculable."

U.S. District Judge Vanessa D. Gilmore in Houston ruled that Carlson is the bag's true owner, having bought it at a government auction for $995 in 2015.

The government may have erred in putting the bag up for sale, but government lawyers erred further by not appealing another judge's ruling on ownership, Gilmore concluded.

The bag is set to be covertly returned on Monday.

'Mission Unknown'

When the Apollo 11 capsule splashed down near Hawaii in July 1969, its celebrated crew came bearing loads of soil and rock stashed in specially designed collection bags.

The embroidered and zippered bag now owned by Carlson was among them, covered in microscopic moon dust and rock particles that NASA scientists discovered were difficult to remove.

Decades later, the round bag - about the size of a dinner plate - turned up in the home of a Kansas space museum's director, where it was seized by federal agents in an unrelated criminal case.

COOL HISTORY: Apollo 11 command module going on tour, coming to Houston later this year

The U.S. Marshal's office finally put it up for auction in 2014 as a "flown zippered lunar sample return bag with lunar dust. 11.5 [inches]. Tear at Center. Flown Mission Unknown."

The suggested opening bid was $20,000. Nobody bid on it.

When it went up for auction again in February 2015, Carlson was the highest bidder.

Carlson had watched the moon landing, like so many from her generation, as an awestruck 11-year-old in Marquette, Michigan.

"I just felt great that they left this planet and made it to the moon, but I felt even happier when they got back OK," Carlson said Friday at the Houston federal courthouse.

MORE SPACE EXPLORATION: Venus, once too hot to explore, now within NASA's reach thanks to new tech

Carlson's parents pushed her and her sister to pursue their dreams, and the space program embodied those big dreams, she said.

The package arrived by UPS at her home in Inverness, Illinois, about 50 miles from Chicago. It arrived in a simple cardboard box, with the lunar bag wrapped in brown paper inside. She kept it in her bedroom closet for safekeeping.

A few months later, Carlson contacted Ryan Zeigler, the lunar sample curator at the Johnson Space Center, curious to know if the bag actually contained moon dust. He said he'd be glad to test it if she'd send it to him.

He confirmed that the bag contained lunar dust, and further tests revealed even more: It was an outer decontamination bag for the first lunar samples ever collected on the first manned mission to the moon.

Historical artifact

That's when things got complicated.

Carlson and Zeigler exchanged emails over many months, ostensibly trying to arrange a time for her to retrieve her bag.

She eventually filed a federal lawsuit as part of the government's forfeiture action. A Kansas judge who got the case ruled the bag belonged to Carlson, but said a judge in the Houston region - where the Johnson Space Center is based would have to oversee enforcement of the order.

Federal prosecutors in Kansas did not appeal the decision, presenting further problems for prosecutors in Houston.

DID YOU KNOW? Little-known facts about astronaut John Glenn's historic 1962 mission to space

NASA officials said late Friday that they consider the case closed.

"NASA is obviously disappointed by the decision of the court due to the fact that it was primarily through the unlawful activity of a third party that put this historical artifact into the public domain," according to a statement from William Jeffs, the NASA spokesman for the astromaterials division. "This artifact was never meant to be owned by an individual. Moreover, this artifact is important, not just for its scientific value, but also because it represents the culmination of a massive national effort involving a generation of Americans, including the astronauts who risked their lives in an effort to accomplish the most significant act humankind has ever achieved."

NASA officials have asked Carlson to consider allowing the bag to be displayed publicly.

Her lawyer, Christopher M. McHugh, said she will consider it. But first she wants to get it back in hand.

"Given that this bag is really a national treasure," McHugh told the judge, "I don't think it's possible for Ms. Carlson to just keep the bag at home. That's not going to happen. But I do think a transfer of ownership has to happen."

Carlson is also considering a quiet visit to the Johnson Space Center over the weekend while waiting to pick up her treasure.

See the original post here:

NASA ordered to return historic lunar bag, moon dust to highest bidder - Chron.com