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Apollo 15 postage stamp incident

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Re: Apollo 15 postage stamp incident

#31

Post by xenadu02 »

jedberg wrote: post #6

> some said astronauts should not be allowed to reap personal profits from NASA missions. That's an interesting ethical question. At what point is it ok for someone who got paid by the government to do a job ok to make extra money because of that fact. These days most Presidents get to write books about their time in the White House and make money. Buzz Aldrin still goes to cons and signs autographs for money. So whe…

Astronauts can make money from their adventures the same way presidents do:

1. After the job is over and they retire 2. By making personal appearances or writing a book

Presidents generally don't take mementos on official state trips so they can sell them on eBay when they get back.

Re: Apollo 15 postage stamp incident

#32

Post by [deleted] »

TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #25
reitzensteinm wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe the profit motive made it wrong, yes. It creates a fundamental conflict of interest in the allocation of taxpayer resources. This might not have been a severe case, but NASA was absolutely right to come down on it hard.

Or, it demonstrates a lack of foresight by NASA to take advantage of an opportunity to sell a bunch of stamps over the following decades at wildly inflated prices. There must be at least a handful of items that don't weight a lot per 1000 units that could have gone to the moon and back. I'm thinking pretty much any paper document or certificate, cash notes.

[deleted]

Re: Apollo 15 postage stamp incident

#33

Post by interfixus »

The early astronauts made all kinds of extra on the side. Sponsored cars, magazine exclusives and various similar shenanigans. I didn't understand then (which I'm old enought to remember), and I do not understand now why the stamp incident was singled out and hammered so severely.

Davis Scott had handled himself superbly during his two previous flights, and Apollo 15 was in all relevant respects a huge success, most visibly so for premiering the lunar rover and bringing back the genesis rock.

Re: Apollo 15 postage stamp incident

#34

Post by caymanjim »

interfixus wrote: post #33

The early astronauts made all kinds of extra on the side. Sponsored cars, magazine exclusives and various similar shenanigans. I didn't understand then (which I'm old enought to remember), and I do not understand now why the stamp incident was singled out and hammered so severely. Davis Scott had handled himself superbly during his two previous flights, and Apollo 15 was in all relevant respects a huge success, most…

There's a difference between running a side game on your own time and smuggling schlocky trinkets on a mission of national significance under a international spotlight. I suppose you can spin it as a triumph of capitalism, but most people would consider it an embarrassment.

Re: Apollo 15 postage stamp incident

#35

Post by warent »

chazzyluc wrote: post #21
jedberg wrote: post #6

> some said astronauts should not be allowed to reap personal profits from NASA missions. That's an interesting ethical question. At what point is it ok for someone who got paid by the government to do a job ok to make extra money because of that fact. These days most Presidents get to write books about their time in the White House and make money. Buzz Aldrin still goes to cons and signs autographs for money. So whe…

I don't think it was an issue of misuse of tax payer dollars or anything like that. The point of allowing astronauts to bring personal items was to help keep their mental health stable and morale high over the course of an 8+ day journey in a very confined space under extreme stress. Having crew members thinking about how their side hustle was going to pan out when they got home would be a distraction and not in line…

You've reached your one-post-per-year quota already and I think it's been well spent. This seems to be a perfect rationale when you put it in these terms

Re: Apollo 15 postage stamp incident

#37

Post by dr_dshiv »

TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #25
reitzensteinm wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe the profit motive made it wrong, yes. It creates a fundamental conflict of interest in the allocation of taxpayer resources. This might not have been a severe case, but NASA was absolutely right to come down on it hard.

Or, it demonstrates a lack of foresight by NASA to take advantage of an opportunity to sell a bunch of stamps over the following decades at wildly inflated prices. There must be at least a handful of items that don't weight a lot per 1000 units that could have gone to the moon and back. I'm thinking pretty much any paper document or certificate, cash notes.

That's how Hearst funded the first round-the-world flight, on the Grad Zeppelin. Novelty stamps!

But mixed motivations can be confusing and demotivating.

Re: Apollo 15 postage stamp incident

#38

Post by mgkimsal »

stordoff wrote: post #17
gumby wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think most people would not understand the technical term “cover” while “stamp” clues them in that is is likely somehow postal related.

"postal covers" (the article title) would seem to handle that.

in my 40+ years of living in english speaking countries and sending thousand of pieces of postal mail over that time, i've never heard the phrase 'postal cover'. 'postal' is the only clue that indicates it's ... to do with 'postal' stuff.

Re: Apollo 15 postage stamp incident

#39

Post by mongol »

xenadu02 wrote: post #31
jedberg wrote: post #6

> some said astronauts should not be allowed to reap personal profits from NASA missions. That's an interesting ethical question. At what point is it ok for someone who got paid by the government to do a job ok to make extra money because of that fact. These days most Presidents get to write books about their time in the White House and make money. Buzz Aldrin still goes to cons and signs autographs for money. So whe…

Astronauts can make money from their adventures the same way presidents do: 1. After the job is over and they retire 2. By making personal appearances or writing a book Presidents generally don't take mementos on official state trips so they can sell them on eBay when they get back.

Don't they sometimes sign legislature with multiple pens for similar purpose?

Re: Apollo 15 postage stamp incident

#40

Post by sisu2019 »

caymanjim wrote: post #34
interfixus wrote: post #33

The early astronauts made all kinds of extra on the side. Sponsored cars, magazine exclusives and various similar shenanigans. I didn't understand then (which I'm old enought to remember), and I do not understand now why the stamp incident was singled out and hammered so severely. Davis Scott had handled himself superbly during his two previous flights, and Apollo 15 was in all relevant respects a huge success, most…

There's a difference between running a side game on your own time and smuggling schlocky trinkets on a mission of national significance under a international spotlight. I suppose you can spin it as a triumph of capitalism, but most people would consider it an embarrassment.

It's only an embarrassment if you have a deep seated anti-commercial bias. Sure, your adjectives are quite invocative but let's contrast your prose with reality:

> smuggling

Taking something personal in the space assigned for personal use is not smuggling.

> schlocky trinkets

Envelopes from space are pretty neat and evidently highly valued by the people that ended up buying them. Those people now have something that is nearly unique and very special to them. Have you personally ever created or done something as meaningful for other people?

> national significance

No doubt. But how come a government bureaucracy like NASA can't make cool memorabilia like that to give to the fans that payed for all of it but can only watch?

> international spotlight

Few people cared about Apollo 15. It's actually already legendary how hard the public interest dropped off after the first few landings.

> triumph of capitalism

It is a triumph, absolutely. Hundreds of people got something really meaningful for them that they would not have gotten otherwise. The astronauts got a well earned pay off. Humanity got artifacts that will be preserved down the ages. Nobody was hurt or exploited. Win Win Win all around

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