A bag carried to the moon aboard the Apollo 11 spacecraft and used for the first sample of lunar material is at the center of a legal fight after the government mistakenly sold it during the criminal case against the former director of the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center.

The bag was flown on Apollo 11 in June 1969 and has lunar material embedded in its fabric.

The government this week asked a federal judge to rescind its sale. It contends that as result of misidentification the National Aeronautics and Space Administration- which loaned it to the Cosmosphere – was not properly notified.

Cosmosphere founder Max Ary was convicted in 2005 for stealing and selling museum artifacts.

The bag was found in his garage during execution of a search warrant.