Possibly that in the midst of the Cold War, having bits of a Soviet satellite is something the US may have wanted to keep secret, so we could have a chance to learn from it rather than have them demand to get the chunks back, like they did when the MiG-25 anded in Japan.

__________________
A Nerd can figure out how long it will take the original Enterprise traveling at warp 6.5 to travel from Regulus to Antares.
A Geek will think he can use that to pick up a girl in a bar.
A Dork knows he can't pick up the girl with it, but will hang around for hours anyway, just in case she asks.
She might. You never know.