An audited journey to the moon?

Liberties taken by government servants on official reimbursements are the stuff of lore in India. That is why the two bits of memorabilia from astronaut Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin’s Apollo 11 journey that have recently been put in the public domain are particularly enlightening: even his trip to the moon was audited and he put in a claim for a $33.31 reimbursement.

Since Aldrin had been provided a ‘government aircraft’ for what was obviously an official trip and was also picked up by a government vehicle upon his splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, the sum must have been for travel to the Kennedy Space Center. It is commendable that he remembered the pre-launch car ride and conscientiously billed it to Nasa, undistracted by the excitement caused by the historic moon landings and successful return of the astronauts.

That Aldrin took care to fill out a customs form as well for the moon rocks and dust he brought back is also commendable, though it is unclear whether any laws existed — at least at the time of that pioneering moon mission — by which he may have been prosecuted for ‘smuggling’ material from space. How their value would have been computed for any fine is also moot. Hopefully, the other two astronauts on that trip, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins, were as conscientious about their paperwork too.