The sample that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin brought back from the Moon included about 21 kilograms of rock.NASA has requested the return of rock samples from the Moon that were collected by astronauts during the Apollo 11 mission and cockroaches fed on the dust.The products were to be auctioned off privately.It so happens that shortly after arriving on Earth in 1969, the samples were sent to a researcher named Marion Brooks from the University of Minnesota (UM), United States, to experiment and determine if they contained any type of pathogen “that represented a problem. or threat to life on Earth," reported The Washington Post.Although no infectious agents were found in the regolith portion, she was also not returned to the agency so when Brooks died, her daughter sold them.The samples brought back from the Moon, described by auction firm RR Auction as "a unique rarity from Apollo", were expected to fetch US$400,000.However, NASA was contacted to stop the sale.In a letter dated June 15, a lawyer for the agency said that samples of about 40 milligrams of powder, the remains of three cockroaches and dozens of microscope slides, still belong to the government.“All Apollo samples, as stated in this collection of articles, belong to NASA and no person, university, or other entity has been given permission to retain them after analysis, destruction, or other use for any purpose, especially for sale or solo exhibition," the letter says.The disputed sample is just a portion of what astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin collected on the Moon, which included some 21 kilograms of rocks."Some animals were inoculated with dust, some received portions mixed with their food or water, and others walked or crawled through the dust spread across the bottom of their containers," according to a 1970 Minnesota Science article on the experiments with the samples, clarifying later that no insect was damaged.The current sale is consigned to an anonymous, The Washington Post reported.Additionally, Mark Zaid, an attorney for the auction house, said they are working collaboratively with NASA to respond to the request.New low cost offers tickets abroad at half priceHe regretted it: Disney negotiates contract with Johnny DeppDoes Telefe abuse its success?El Trece licks his lips and takes advantageNacho Viale without work: El Trece retired Mirtha LegrandRenault's plan to survive the stocksGet all the latest news from wherever you are, for free.Sign up to receive our newsletter.Urgente24.com © 1997-2021 Urgente24.com - All rights reserved - Juramento 2059 CABA - Director: Edgar Mainhard