Apollo Stamp Scandal Options

[dvandorn]

There aren't very many good articles on the web about it, so I'll tell you some details here.

During the early years of American manned space flight (Mercury through Apollo), astronauts were celebrities and heroes and got a lot of lucrative offers and deals. For the most part, NASA looked the other way as car dealers gace them free cars, bars gave them free drinks and restaurants gave them free meals.

There was also a well-established trade in objects that had flown in space. Each astronaut got a Personal Preference Kit, weighing few pounds or so each, in which they could carry anything that fit under the weight cap. The guys carried things for friends and relatives, and they also carried items that were later sold, the proceeds going back to the astronaut in some fashion.

One of the more popular things that astronauts carried were stamps, since you can carry quite a few of them without taking up much space or much weight. NASA approved a lot of stamps, carried for later sale by the USPS and other agencies -- with no special renumeration going back to the flight crew. On Apollo 15, they were supposed to carry something like 50 pre-stamped envelopes and a canceling stamp to cancel them while on the Moon.

They actually carried more than 200. The extras were given to a dealer, the proceeds were to be given back to the crew in the form of trust funds for their childrens' college educations.

Apollo 15 also carried a small original sculpture called "The Fallen Astronaut," which was placed on the Moon along with a plaque listing all of the astronauts and cosmonauts who had died to-date in the pursuit of manned space exploration. The sculptor had arranged to sell copies of the sculpture, starting no less than a year after the flight, with one-quarter of all profits going into trust funds for the crew's childrens' educations.

What happened to the Apollo 15 crew was that the sculptor (or his manager) started selling copies almost immediately, bringing the deal to the notice of NASA and the press. The crew disavowed the deal and refused any payments, but this caused a Congressional subcommittee to hold hearings on astronauts profiting from side-deals resulting from items they took with them on their flights. That was when the stamp deal became public.

The Apollo 15 crew was chastised by NASA because they initially denied that they had ever been involved in the stamp or sculpture deals, then later admitted their involvement. They had been named as the back-up crew for Apollo 17, but after NASA issued letters of discipline, they were relieved from active duty and were replaced by John Young, Charlie Duke and Stu Roosa. Scott and Irwin transferred to other NASA centers and then retired, while Worden (IIRC) returned to Air Force active duty for a couple of years.

The guy who really got shot down was Jack Swigert. The Congressional investigation revealed that Swigert, on Apollo 13, took along a pretty sizable number of stamped covers and profited from their sale, and when asked about it told the investigators to go to hell. He refused to admit anything and never admitted to his actions. Swigert was Deke Slayton's first choice as one of the ASTP crew, but his non-cooperation in the stamp scandal investigation earned him a permanent seat on the bench, after which he resigned NASA.

Poor Jack -- he was elected to Congress in 1980 (if I'm remembering the dates properly), but died of cancer before he could take his seat in the House...

-the other Doug

[MizarKey]

Thanks Doug, I really hadn't heard about it before.

Personally, I don't see the problem with the Astronauts making some 'side' money. My understanding is that they weren't paid a whole lot as it was, considering the extreme danger of the job.

A lot of other people made money off of them, such as the companies that sold the spacecraft models, bubble gum cards, ect. Did NASA just give away the technologies ?(microwave ovens are always mentioned as a by-product of Apollo)

Now if only some of the Astronauts would post moon rocks on eBay...

Eric P / MizarKey

[DEChengst]

Did NASA just give away the technologies ?(microwave ovens are always mentioned as a by-product of Apollo)

The microwave was invented in 1946, so unless NASA invented time travel for the Apollo programme it's safe to claim this isn't true.

[dvandorn]

Thanks Doug, I really hadn't heard about it before.

Personally, I don't see the problem with the Astronauts making some 'side' money.  My understanding is that they weren't paid a whole lot as it was, considering the extreme danger of the job.

One of the reasons that NASA looked the other way on some of the perks offered the astronauts was exactly because they couldn't afford to pay the guys great sums, and also couldn't offer them life insurance. During the 1960s, no insurance company in the world would write a policy on an astronaut's life. So, the financial perks were tacitly allowed, to provide the families a certain safety net in case a crew ran across a really Bad Day.

A lot of other people made money off of them, such as the companies that sold the spacecraft models, bubble gum cards, ect.  Did NASA just give away the technologies ?(microwave ovens are always mentioned as a by-product of Apollo)

NASA didn't develop much in the way of new technologies -- they made use of some cutting-edge technologies, yes. But microwave ovens were around as early as 1963, and were more the by-product of radar technologies developed during and after WWII. Electronic miniaturization is also often attributed to NASA, but it's really more due to missile technology... we miniaturized electronics to make fusion bombs and their guidance systems small enough to fit on the rockets we could build.

NASA made some strides in things like freeze-drying foods, too -- but again, NASA didn't invent those technologies. They just made use of them before a lot of other people did.

Now if only some of the Astronauts would post moon rocks on eBay...

Unfortunately, that's not legal. IIRC, the descendant of someone who received a moon rock as a present from the U.S. government inherited the rock and then trried to sell it on Ebay. The U.S. government put the nix on the sale quickly. (IIRC, there might also have been an ownership issue -- the rock might have been stolen from its original owner. But I believe the position of the U.S. was that even rocks that had been given to other governments were the property of all mankind and that no individual should be allowed to profit from their sale.)

-the other Doug

[Piper]

I know this thread is ancient, but I'm surfing the net, trying to get some information. I'm the grandson of a retired Marine aviator, a General, and have recently been given a great deal of memorabilia by my grandmother, and I'm trying to ascertain exactly what it is I have here. I knew he had a fantastic Apollo memorial set. I saw it once as a small child. I was enthralled with one of the items, an 8x10 glossy with pictures of all the Apollo flight patches on it. When I showed such interest, he had it autographed for me by James McDivitt and gave it to me on some occasion I forget. I'd not seen the rest of the package until this year. My grandfather was always very tight lipped. He recieved many special gifts through the years, case in point, a football I have here autographed by all the 1968 Green Bay Packers presented to him when he took command of the 4th Marine Air Wing in Glenview, IL. This item's nature and authenticity is self-evident. But the nature of this Apollo package is not. Not even my grandmother knows where it came from. And unfortunately, my grandfather has advanced alzheimers. Where do I go to get some idea of what it is I have, which includes stamped envelopes, pins, a bracelet, an Apollo 15 badge, and a great deal of other interesting memorabilia? I can be reached at bstanley@icsnets.com. Thanks.

There aren't very many good articles on the web about it, so I'll tell you some details here.

During the early years of American manned space flight (Mercury through Apollo), astronauts were celebrities and heroes and got a lot of lucrative offers and deals. For the most part, NASA looked the other way as car dealers gace them free cars, bars gave them free drinks and restaurants gave them free meals.

There was also a well-established trade in objects that had flown in space. Each astronaut got a Personal Preference Kit, weighing few pounds or so each, in which they could carry anything that fit under the weight cap. The guys carried things for friends and relatives, and they also carried items that were later sold, the proceeds going back to the astronaut in some fashion.

One of the more popular things that astronauts carried were stamps, since you can carry quite a few of them without taking up much space or much weight. NASA approved a lot of stamps, carried for later sale by the USPS and other agencies -- with no special renumeration going back to the flight crew. On Apollo 15, they were supposed to carry something like 50 pre-stamped envelopes and a canceling stamp to cancel them while on the Moon.

They actually carried more than 200. The extras were given to a dealer, the proceeds were to be given back to the crew in the form of trust funds for their childrens' college educations.

Apollo 15 also carried a small original sculpture called "The Fallen Astronaut," which was placed on the Moon along with a plaque listing all of the astronauts and cosmonauts who had died to-date in the pursuit of manned space exploration. The sculptor had arranged to sell copies of the sculpture, starting no less than a year after the flight, with one-quarter of all profits going into trust funds for the crew's childrens' educations.

What happened to the Apollo 15 crew was that the sculptor (or his manager) started selling copies almost immediately, bringing the deal to the notice of NASA and the press. The crew disavowed the deal and refused any payments, but this caused a Congressional subcommittee to hold hearings on astronauts profiting from side-deals resulting from items they took with them on their flights. That was when the stamp deal became public.

The Apollo 15 crew was chastised by NASA because they initially denied that they had ever been involved in the stamp or sculpture deals, then later admitted their involvement. They had been named as the back-up crew for Apollo 17, but after NASA issued letters of discipline, they were relieved from active duty and were replaced by John Young, Charlie Duke and Stu Roosa. Scott and Irwin transferred to other NASA centers and then retired, while Worden (IIRC) returned to Air Force active duty for a couple of years.

The guy who really got shot down was Jack Swigert. The Congressional investigation revealed that Swigert, on Apollo 13, took along a pretty sizable number of stamped covers and profited from their sale, and when asked about it told the investigators to go to hell. He refused to admit anything and never admitted to his actions. Swigert was Deke Slayton's first choice as one of the ASTP crew, but his non-cooperation in the stamp scandal investigation earned him a permanent seat on the bench, after which he resigned NASA.

Poor Jack -- he was elected to Congress in 1980 (if I'm remembering the dates properly), but died of cancer before he could take his seat in the House...

-the other Doug

[djellison]

I'd get in touch with people from www.collectspace.com - they know EVERYTHING about anything. Hell - they've even got MER airbag material (which I would sell a kidney for )

Doug

[dvandorn]

As long as they don't try and tell you that it's *flown* MER airbag material, I think you're all right, Doug. Otherwise, I'd have to wonder how they collected it...

-the other Doug