NASA Is Buying Moon Rocks, No Delivery Required

This morning, in a solicitation for the "Purchase of Lunar Regolith and/or Rock Materials from Contractor" announced on the SAM.gov government contracts website, NASA sought bids from companies capable of reaching the moon to go there and gather "a small amount" of moon rocks (between 50 and 500 grams -- or a little more than a pound at most) for safekeeping. The contractor will photograph the moon rocks it has collected and provide both an image of the collection and data on where it is located, and legally transfer ownership of the rocks to NASA. Then, the rocks will just sit there until NASA has a chance to collect them itself (or perhaps hire another contractor to do so).