NASA says the cockroaches and Apollo 11 moon dust being sold at a Boston auction for $400,000 belong to the agency and are not for sale

© Provided by INSIDER 30th Anniversary of Apollo 11 Moon Mission NASA / Getty Images

• Remarkable Rarities auctioned off cockroaches and moon dust collected during an Apollo 11 mission in 1969, per The AP.
• The auctioned materials were used in an experiment to determine if lunar rocks contained any pathogens that could threaten terrestrial life.
• NASA’s lawyer argued that the materials are not theirs to sell and belonged to the federal government. 

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‘Yellowstone’ is a smash hit and its creator is making 8 other series. Here are all the details.

Paramount announced this week that its “Yellowstone” prequel “1932” would be called instead “1923.” It’s just one of a handful of projects “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan is making for Paramount. “Yellowstone” is the biggest series on cable and a fifth season is in the works.

Paramount Network’s “Yellowstone” is easily the biggest hit on cable TV, and the network renewed the series for a fifth season earlier this year.

The show’s season-four finale was watched by 9.3 million viewers on January 2 — the biggest cable telecast since 2017. It’s also up substantially from the 5.2 million viewers who tuned in for the season-three finale the day it aired.

Other data shows that “Yellowstone,” which stars Kevin Costner as a powerful rancher, has grown its audience with each season.

Parrot Analytics measures audience demand, which accounts for the interest in and engagement with, or overall popularity, of a TV series. According to Parrot Analytics, audience demand in the US for the full season-four run was:

32.7% higher than season three’s demand126% higher than season two’s demand134% higher than season one’s demand

But “Yellowstone” is only one series from its creator, Taylor Sheridan, who is developing several other projects, including ones that expand the “Yellowstone” franchise.

Paramount Global — the Paramount Network parent company formerly known as ViacomCBS — announced on Monday that the “Yellowstone” prequel “1932” would be renamed “1923,” and center on the Prohibition era of the US.

Two other Sheridan shows, “1883” and “Mayor of Kingstown,” have already premiered on Paramount+.

Paramount is betting on Sheridan as a brand for its streaming platform, even though the streaming rights for “Yellowstone” belong to NBCUniversal’s Peacock, which landed the series in 2020. (Paramount+ launched in March 2021.)

So the first four seasons are available on Peacock; new episodes air on Paramount Network; and spinoffs are set for Paramount+.

Read our review of the Paramount+ streaming service, or sign up for the 30-day free trial:

Paramount+ 30-day Free TrialParamount Plus starts at $5/month with ads, and new members can get a 30-day free trial.$0.00 FROM PARAMOUNT+

The Paramount+ Sheridan strategy has been successful so far. The “Yellowstone” prequel “1883” is Paramount+’s biggest original series yet. And Sheridan’s “Mayor of Kingstown” was renewed for a second season.

The “Sheridan universe” has potential to help Paramount+ grow its subscriber base. In Q1 this year, Paramount said the service added 7 million subscribers and now has a total of 40 million.

Below are all the series that Sheridan is making, and has already made, for Paramount beyond “Yellowstone,” in alphabetical order:

Read the original article on Insider

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“1883” (Paramount+)

“1883” was a prequel to “Yellowstone” starring Sam Elliott, Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill.

The series concluded earlier this year. In February, Paramount had said that it had ordered more of “1883,” without announcing a season-two renewal.

Producer David Glasser later told Insider in March that fans shouldn’t expect a season two, but that the story would continue. He said that fans can view the “Yellowstone” spinoffs as an anthology series.

That was later put in perspective when Paramount announced that its series about Bass Reeves, the first Black deputy US marshal in the American West, would be titled “1883: The Bass Reeves Story.”

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“1883: The Bass Reeves Story” (Paramount+)

David Oyelowo is set to star as the title character, who was the first Black deputy US marshal in the American West.

Initially announced as “Bass Reeves,” the new title indicates it to be an “1883” spinoff. The company had previously said it had ordered more of “1883” without saying it had renewed the series for a second season.

David Glasser, an executive producer on “1883” and “Yellowstone,” told Insider in March that the “Yellowstone” spinoffs could be viewed as an “anthology series.”

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“1923” (Paramount+)

“1932” will follow another generation of the Dutton family during the Prohibition era. The series will star Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren.

Paramount announced on Monday that the show’s title would be “1932” instead of “1923,” placing it in the time of Prohibition rather than during the Great Depression.

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“6666” (Paramount+)

“6666,” based on the historic Texas ranch that showed up in “Yellowstone” season four, is a spinoff of the series that’s in the works.

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“Land Man” (Paramount+)

“Land Man” is in the works with Billy Bob Thornton in talks to star. It’s based on a Texas Monthly podcast about the oil business.

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“Lioness” (Paramount+)

Nicole Kidman and Zoe Saldana are in talks to star in this series about female marines. The producer and actor Jill Wagner is producing with Sheridan.

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“Mayor of Kingstown” (Paramount+)

Season two of “Mayor of Kingstown,” which stars Jeremy Renner, is in the works. The streamer says the series “follows the McLusky family — power brokers in Kingstown, Michigan where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry.”

NASA has halted the sale of moon dust and cockroach carcasses, which were collected during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, at a Boston-based Remarkable Rarities Auction.

According to the auction site, the cockroaches and moon dust were used in an Apollo 11 experiment to determine if lunar rocks contained any sort of pathogen that could threaten terrestrial life.

The three German cockroach carcasses and 40 milligrams of moon dust were auctioned on May 25 this year and reached $400,000. In a letter to the Remarkable Rarities, NASA’s lawyer stated that all materials from the experiment were federal property, The Associated Press reported.

“All Apollo samples, as stipulated in this collection of items, belong to NASA, and no person, university, or other entity has ever been given permission to keep them after analysis, destruction, or other use for any purpose, especially for sale or individual display,” NASA said in a letter dated June 15, per The AP.

Remarkable Rarities had withdrawn the auction on Thursday. However, the space material has not been returned to NASA yet. In a letter dated June 22, provided to the AP, Nasa’s lawyer asked RR Auction to work with the current owner to return the material.

“We have worked with NASA before and have always cooperated with the U.S. government when they lay claims to items,” Mark Zaid, an attorney for RR Auction, told The AP. “At the end of the day, we want to act appropriately and lawfully.”

Read the original article on Insider