NASA will pay up to $25,000 for lunar soil

[UM-Bot 10,434]

The space agency has tasked private firms with the job of collecting and returning samples of soil from the Moon.

https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/339494/nasa-will-pay-you-up-to-25000-for-lunar-soil

[Seti42 1,481]

I don't see this becoming a moon-mining venture, lol. I mean, 25K for a sample that cost multi-millions to get...
This is more like throwing NASA a bone if you've already collected and returned to earth well over 500 grams of material for your own study.

[Xeno-Fish 109,666]

I guess I need to build a very big slingshot. Gotta get the moon gold next weekend.

[Wreck7 51]

That comes out to about $50 a gram. They must be out of their minds.

[Jon the frog 2,612]

They clearly don't pay enough... some of them are already on the market and sell way more !

https://www.cnn.com/style/article/moon-rocks-auction-sothebys-intl/index.html

Maybe they just wan't new sample and the ones gifted by astronaut of the Apollo program or other missions don't count ? Even moon dust got stolen at NASA and got probably on the black market for the highest bidder...

 

 

Edited September 13, 2020 by Jon the frog

[Peter B 3,849]

Out of interest, can anyone point to where it actually says that's the price NASA will pay?

I followed links from Bridenstine's tweet which eventually led to this government document and searched for "$25,000", but the references I found to that value always seemed to be related to something other than the price NASA would pay. As it's a 28 page long legal document perhaps someone might like to read it to confirm exactly what NASA is offering.

[jethrofloyd 3,992]

My selfie when I was the last time on the Moon and collected soil! 

[mdbuilder 99]

$25,000? Hang on a second, I'll be right back...

[Bavarian Raven 1,619]

I believe this is being done to set a legal precedent (aka mining materials in/from space)