The Misplaced Stuff: NASA loses moon, space rocks

This undated handout photo provided by NASA shows a six-inch lunar sample disk containing three rock pieces and three clumps of lunar dirt, similar to the one shown here, went missing after it was loaned to a Delaware observatory in 1978. NASA’s Inspector General says the space agency has lost or had stolen hundreds of pieces of moon rocks, meteorites and other space samples. In one case. The loan expired in 2010 and when NASA asked what happened, the observatory said the person in charge of the sample had died and they couldn’t find it. It is still missing. (AP Photo/NASA)

By Seth Borenstein AP Science Writer / December 8, 2011

WASHINGTON—Astronauts may have had the `right stuff' to go to the moon, but when it comes to keeping track of what they brought back, NASA seems to have misplaced some of that stuff.

In a report issued by the agency's Inspector General on Thursday, NASA concedes that more than 500 pieces of moon rocks, meteorites, comet chunks and other space material were stolen or have been missing since 1970. That includes 218 moon samples that were stolen and later returned and about two dozen moon rocks and chunks of lunar soil that were reported lost last year.

MORE: http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2011/12/08/the_misplaced_stuff_nasa_loses_moon_space_rocks/

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