Apollo 11 had to clear customs on Moon arrival

[mikea]

...when the triumphant crew of Apollo 11, led by Neil Armstrong, returned to Earth, one of the first questions they faced was: are you going through the red channel or the green channel?

Documents which have just come to light via the internet show that even if you've just travelled to the Moon and back - especially if you've just travelled to the Moon and back - the US Customs wants to know what you've got. Anyone who has visited the US will be familiar with the huge list of items which travellers are required to declare, such as plants, drugs and other preparations.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/s...ind-wasnt-enough-to-clear-customs-692503.html

 

[fgcason]

If that's really true and not some internet hogwash all I can say is:

That's pathetic.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

It's only worse now almost 40 years later.

 

[Anymouse]

Snopes anyone?

 

[alaskaflyer]

Well sure.

Also astronauts have to complete their federal travel voucher paperwork to get reimbursed for their per diem, I think it is $3 a day if the government supplies their meals while in space.

No I am not kidding.

 

[AuntPeggy]

Snopes anyone?

Don't see anything about it on Snopes.

 

[mikea]

Here's a key question for our military aviators:

Do military flights have to clear (US) customs checks? I would imagine that NASA gets treated the same, although there actually are a few FARS that cover space flights.

 

[gkainz]

I never had to while flying - but flying from a US ship to a US (even on foreign soil) base I would think would not be a customs event.

The ships had to clear customs, however, when returning to the US. They had US Customs reps and sailors assigned to collateral duty as customs inspectors.

Edit - as I read that - that doesn't make sense, but that's how I recall it - never had to personally clear customs when flying off the ship back to the States after a cruise - but I guess my "stuff" that came home when the ship pulled in did have to.

 

[KennyFlys]

Here's a key question for our military aviators:

Do military flights have to clear (US) customs checks? I would imagine that NASA gets treated the same, although there actually are a few FARS that cover space flights.

Every time we were about to enter port from a cruise, we underwent random customs checks of our sea bag or whatever other baggage we might have. The inspectors were appointed officers and chiefs. It wasn't that bad unless you had the sea bag packed so much, it's another drawn out effort to repack it.

Most of the time, they were looking for some sailor trying to haul a bunch of cigarettes back on shore. The maximum was a carton and some would try to bring several since they were nearly half the cost aboard the carrier.

Pilots underwent their own searches. I'm not sure what happen for those who flew from the ship directly to the base.

 

[Skip Miller]

The ships had to clear customs, however, when returning to the US. They had US Customs reps and sailors assigned to collateral duty as customs inspectors.

Whenever we pulled in after an international port stop, the ship was required to clear customs. This amounted to one simple form, and a short question to the CO or XO: Anything to declare? No? Well, welcome home. This procedure was for the ship and its cargo; there was never any questioning or declaration forms for the sailors. 1968-1972 era. Was this ever abused?

-Skip

 

[jshawley]

As a sailor from '75 to March '81, never had to go through a customs search, &c. Dunno about the Old Man; I was always throttleman in #2 (starboard screw) engine room. Special Sea and Anchor Detail was my favorite.

 

[ScottM]

Here's a key question for our military aviators:

Do military flights have to clear (US) customs checks? I would imagine that NASA gets treated the same, although there actually are a few FARS that cover space flights.

I never did in a military aircraft. I did the UK to Greece, the US, and Germany. We just got off and went on our way. Coming into the US from Spain as an ride along on cargo I did not have to do anything special either.

When I had to go to few countries I did carry my red passport and courier IDs. That let me around the whole mess when I came in on a commercial flight.

 

[TangoWhiskey]

Snopes anyone?

The Apollo 11 mission isn't the only time that Customs demonstrated their adherance to regulations rather than common sense.

On the STS-51-A mission, the Shuttle astronauts not only deployed two communications satellites, but successfully retrieved from orbit, for the first time ever, two malfunctioning satellites and returned them to Earth.

I'll let Joseph P. Allen, mission specialist, pick up the story, from a NASA transcription of an inteview with him I found on NASA's website.

I neglected to mention, Jennifer, when we arrived at the Cape, we were met in crew quarters by two individuals from the United States Customs Department. We were surprised by this, and they said they had forms for us to fill out, because we were bringing into the United States approximately $250 million worth of technical hardware, and there was a certain duty now due on this, because anything that’s imported into the United States over a certain value must be taxed, and the tax would be 10 percent of $250 million. How did we plan to pay for that?

Fortunately, they also had an agreement between Customs and the NASA Office of General Counsel that waived this import duty, that the chief NASA lawyer—I think his name was [S.] Neil Hosenball—had foreseen this as a complication and had organized the waiver prior to the success of the mission. But we were to sign the Customs form, and for that they gave each of us a United States Customs hat, and we crew members had those hats when we had our reunion two weeks ago.

 

[KennyFlys]

Can't they file it as a "1031 Exchange"?