Not another spacecraft auction

Anyway, some enterprising soul has decided there must be a way to profit from NASA's misguidance, and has placed an ad on the eBay online auction service offering the missing probe for sale. Describing the goods as "clean, sharp, runs good", the ad specifically states that it is selling the actual unit NASA has lost, not a replica or prototype. According to the ad, the probe "has about a billion miles on it, but still doing fine. Paint has faded, but . . . probably could buff out".

Not surprisingly, there are a couple of provisos. First, and most important, the seller points out that he or she does not actually own the item in question nor have it in their possession. While the seller is asking for a cool $US1 million for it, they say the final price will have to be worked out with NASA. And the successful buyer will have to recover the item himself or herself. From Mars. You'd think for a million bucks they'd at least deliver.