Multiple people have covertly snuck items on to space missions without the knowledge of their superiors. During the Gemini program,

Deke Slayton Donald Kent "Deke" Slayton (March 1, 1924 – June 13, 1993) was an American Air Force pilot, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and one of the original NASA Mercury Seven astronauts. He went on to become NASA's first Chief of the Astronaut O ...

issued a memo to all astronauts urging a halt to the practice: “… the attempt … to bootleg any item on board not approved by me will result in appropriate disciplinary action. In addition to jeopardizing your personal careers, it must be recognized that seemingly insignificant items can and have affected the prerogatives of follow-on crews." Despite this and other warnings, the practice continued. Here is a partial list of those items. *On March 23, 1965,

Gemini 3 Gemini 3 was the first crewed mission in NASA's Project Gemini and was the first time two American astronauts flew together into space. On March 23, 1965, astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young flew three low Earth orbits in their spacecraft, ...

astronauts

Gus Grissom Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom (April 3, 1926 – January 27, 1967) was an American engineer and pilot in the United States Air Force, as well as one of the original Mercury Seven selected by the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration fo ...

and

John Young John Young most commonly refers to: *John Young (astronaut) (1930–2018), American astronaut * John Young, 1st Baron Lisgar (1807–1876), British diplomat and politician John Young may also refer to: Academics * John Young (professor of Greek) ...

brought a

corned beef sandwich A corned beef sandwich is a Jewish deli sandwich filled with corned beef, traditionally served with mustard on rye bread with a pickle on the side. Variations In the United Kingdom, the Jewish dish is known as a salt beef sandwich, and a corn ...

into orbit, which was widely publicized in the media. They were reprimanded by NASA officials. *On December 15, 1965,

Walter Schirra Walter Marty Schirra Jr. ( ; March 12, 1923 – May 3, 2007) was an American naval aviator, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. In 1959, he became one of the original seven astronauts chosen for Project Mercury, which was the United States' f ...

discreetly brought a harmonica on board

Gemini VI-A Gemini 6A (officially Gemini VI-A) With Gemini IV, NASA changed to Roman numerals for Gemini mission designations. was a 1965 crewed United States spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program. The mission, flown by Wally Schirra and Thomas P. Stafford, ...

and played the song "Jingle Bells". The incident marked the first time that a musical instrument was ever played in space and the harmonica is now in the possession of the

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States, dedicated to history of aviation, human flight and space exploration. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, ...

. *Schirra also reported bringing Scotch and cigarettes onto Gemini VI-A without permission. *On January 31, 1971,

Edgar Mitchell Edgar Dean "Ed" Mitchell (September 17, 1930 – February 4, 2016) was a United States Navy officer and United States Naval Aviator, aviator, test pilot, Aerospace engineering, aeronautical engineer, Ufology, ufologist, and NASA astronaut. ...

brought materials on

Apollo 14 Apollo 14 (January 31February 9, 1971) was the eighth crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, the third to Moon landing, land on the Moon, and the first to land in the Geology of the Moon#Highlands, lunar highlands. It was the las ...

to conduct unauthorized experiments into

extrasensory perception Extrasensory perception (ESP), also known as a sixth sense, or cryptaesthesia, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was ad ...

. *On August 2, 1971,

Apollo 15 Apollo 15 (July 26August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the Apollo program and the fourth Moon landing. It was the first List of Apollo missions#Alphabetical mission types, J mission, with a longer stay on the Moon and a greate ...

commander

David Scott David Randolph Scott (born June 6, 1932) is an American retired test pilot and NASA astronaut who was the List of Apollo astronauts#People who have walked on the Moon, seventh person to walk on the Moon. Selected as part of the NASA Astronaut ...

placed a small metal statue on the Moon, named ''

Fallen Astronaut ''Fallen Astronaut'' is a aluminum sculpture created by Belgian artist Paul Van Hoeydonck. It is a stylized figure of an astronaut in a spacesuit, intended to commemorate the astronauts and Astronaut#Cosmonaut, cosmonauts who have died in t ...

'' to commemorate the astronauts and cosmonauts who had died in the advancement of space exploration. *Soviet cosmonauts aboard

Soyuz 29 Soyuz 29 (, ''Union 29'') was a 1978 crewed Soviet space mission to the Salyut 6 space station. It was the fifth mission, the fourth successful docking, and the second long-duration crew for the orbiting station. Commander Vladimir Kovalyonok an ...

in 1978 brought chocolates on board their flight, which scattered in orbit and required two hours to collect. *In 2008

Richard Garriott Richard Allen Garriott de Cayeux (''né'' Garriott; born 4 July 1961) is a British-born American video game developer, entrepreneur and private astronaut. Garriott, who is the son of NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, was originally a game designer ...

claimed to have smuggled a small amount of

James Doohan James Montgomery Doohan (; March 3, 1920 – July 20, 2005) was a Canadian actor, best known for his role as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the television and film series ''Star Trek''. Doohan's characterization of the Scottish chief engineer of t ...

's ashes onto the

ISS The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), ESA (Europe), ...

inside a number of laminated postcards. NASA declined to comment on the story. *In 2019, American entrepreneur Nova Spivack sent

tardigrades Tardigrades (), known colloquially as water bears or moss piglets, are a phylum of eight-legged Segmentation (biology), segmented micro-animals. They were first described by the German zoologist Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773, who calle ...

to the Moon on board an Arch Mission Foundation lander without informing the Israeli launch company

SpaceIL SpaceIL is an Israeli organization, established in 2011, that competed in the Google Lunar X Prize (GLXP) contest to land a spacecraft on the Moon. SpaceIL successfully launched its ''Beresheet'' lander on 22 February 2019 at 01:45 UTC; it enter ...

that they were part of the payload.

References

{{reflist Spaceflight Smuggling