NASA Employee Stole Apollo Lunar Sample for Illegal Sale Attempt
The Moon Rock Heist: A NASA Intern’s Audacious Crime
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[Image: Thad Roberts in a suit, with caption: Thad Roberts, the NASA intern who masterminded the moon rock heist.]
In 2002, 25-year-old NASA intern Thad Roberts made an unusual promise to his girlfriend, fellow intern Tiffany Fowler: he’d give her the moon. Unlike most grand romantic gestures, he delivered—by stealing 17 pounds of lunar samples worth up to $21 million from NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
Roberts, Fowler, and a third intern, Shae Saur, used their NASA IDs to sneak into the facility after hours. They swiped a 600-pound safe containing moon rocks from every Apollo mission. In a bizarre twist, the trio scattered the samples on Roberts’ bed and had sex atop them, later attempting to sell the stolen goods online.
[Image: Moon rocks in a display case, with caption: NASA’s Apollo-era moon rocks, similar to those stolen in the heist.]
The FBI Sting
The group listed the rocks for sale on a Belgian mineralogy website, pricing them at $2,000–$8,000 per gram. A Belgian collector spotted the ad and alerted the FBI, which set up a sting. Posing as buyers, agents arranged a meeting in Orlando, Florida.
At the rendezvous, Roberts and Fowler met undercover agents, joking about “wires” and appearing giddy with excitement. The FBI arrested them on the spot, while Saur was apprehended in Houston. The timing was ironic—the bust occurred on the 33rd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
Legal Fallout
Roberts received an 8-year prison sentence for leading the heist and an unrelated dinosaur fossil theft. Fowler and Saur received house arrest and community service. The stolen rocks, contaminated during the theft, were rendered scientifically useless. Tragically, decades of NASA research notes stored in the safe were also destroyed.
[Image: FBI agents examining evidence, with caption: FBI agents recovered the stolen moon rocks during a 2002 sting operation.]
Life After Prison
Released in 2008, Roberts reinvented himself as a physicist and author. Reflecting on his crime, he told NBC News: “Awe doesn’t live within those rocks. It belongs to all of us… Don’t repeat my mistakes.” His story remains a cautionary tale of ambition gone awry—and a reminder that some things, like the moon, are best admired from afar.
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