Suit Over Ownership of Astronauts' Bibles Is Settled

AP reports that last week, ahead of a hearing that had been scheduled by an Oklahoma state trial court for today, the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services withdrew its claim of ownership to ten microfilm Bibles that Apollo 14 astronauts took with them into space in 1971.  The 6-year legal battle over ownership ended as the court last Friday awarded ownership to Tulsa author and businesswoman Carol Mersch who said the postage-stamp size Bibles had been given to her by NASA Chaplain John M. Stout while she was writing a book about the chaplain's work. Texas had claimed the Bibles should go to Stout's son who became a ward of the state in his later years.  Mersch says she will comply with Chaplain Stout's wishes and donate some of the Bibles to museums or seminaries around the world.