Sotheby’s Auction of Moon Bag Should Not Be Legal

For All Moonkind, Inc. (www.forallmoonkind.org) today announced that Co-Founder and space lawyer, Michelle Hanlon, will present the nonprofit organization’s plan to obtain United Nations protection of the six Apollo Lunar Landing Sites and related artifacts at the Starship Congress 2017 in Monterey, California August 7-9.

“We formed For All Moonkind with a mission to ensure the Apollo landing sites be recognized by the United Nations for their outstanding value to humanity and protected for posterity,” said Hanlon. “The decision by Nancy Lee Carlson and Sotheby’s to auction off an Apollo 11 Lunar Sample Return Decontamination Bag is a sobering wake-up call,” she continued. “The bag belongs in a museum, so the entire world can share in and celebrate the universal human achievement it represents.”

A federal judge, bound by law, regretfully denied NASA’s request in December 2016 to have the Moon bag returned to the government, noting that “the importance and desirability of the bag stems solely and directly from the efforts of the men and women of NASA, whose amazing technical achievements, skill and courage in landing astronauts on the moon and returning them safely have not been replicated in the almost half a century since the Apollo 11 landing.” Sotheby’s announced the Moon bag will be sold on July 20, the 48th anniversary of the first Moon landing. Opening bid is U.S.$1.6 million.

“Our effort is all about progress,” noted Hanlon. “We applaud Google Lunar XPRIZE and look forward to humanity’s return to the Moon. However, if we allow our past to be sold, especially for personal gain, we set a dangerous precedent for potential Moon scavengers and we lay a very weak foundation for our collective future.”

About For All Moonkind
For All Moonkind, Inc. is a nonprofit organization formed in June 2017. Initial directors include space experts Drs. Ram Jakhu and Joseph Pelton, communications legend Mr. David Bell and entrepreneur Mr. John Goscha. The organization seeks to work with the United Nations to preserve the Apollo Lunar Landing Sites as part of our human heritage. To learn more visit www.forallmoonkind.org.