In one of the most audacious heists in history, NASA intern Thad Roberts, just 24 at the time, stole 17 pounds of priceless moon rocks and a meteorite—together valued at around $21 million—from the Johnson Space Center in July 2002. He pulled it off with daring precision: tampering with security cameras, donning Neoprene bodysuits to evade thermal sensors, and using authentic NASA badges to access the vault, according to the FBI.
Roberts orchestrated the theft to win the heart of fellow intern Tiffany Fowler, claiming, “I’d give you the moon.” Following their romantic tryst, they enlisted a third intern, Shae Saur, to help break into the 600-pound safe containing lunar samples spanning every Apollo mission.
What followed was even more bizarre. On July 20—the 33rd anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing—Roberts inserted moon rocks under the bedcovers and claimed they had “sex on the moon.” The FBI, tipped off by a suspicious Belgian buyer who was in contact with Roberts, conducted a sting operation in Orlando and arrested the trio.
Although the lunar samples were recovered, they were rendered “virtually useless to the scientific community”, and three decades’ worth of irreplaceable research notes were destroyed in the process.
Legal Outcomes:
- Thad Roberts pled guilty and was sentenced to eight years, serving over six before release in 2008.
- Tiffany Fowler and Shae Saur received house arrest and community service, along with restitution to NASA.
- A fourth accomplice, Gordon McWhorter, got a six-year prison sentence.
Why It Still Captivates:
- The heist—part criminal act, part romantic stunt—blurred the lines between love and hubris.
- Scientific history was altered: irreplaceable lunar samples and research were lost forever.
- The saga inspired the 2011 book Sex on the Moon, underscoring how even the most grounded institutions aren’t immune to wild tales of human emotion and folly.
