Posted on 06/30/2011 2:41:09 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. government has sued a former NASA astronaut to recover a camera used to explore the moon's surface during the 1971 Apollo 14 mission after seeing it slated for sale in a New York auction.
The lawsuit, filed in Miami federal court on Wednesday, accuses Edgar Mitchell of illegally possessing the camera and attempting to sell it for profit.
In March, NASA learned that the British auction house Bonhams was planning to sell the camera at an upcoming Space History Sale, according to the suit.
The item was labeled "Movie Camera from the Lunar Surface" and billed as one of two cameras from the Apollo 14's lunar module Antares. The lot description said the item came "directly from the collection" of pilot Edgar Mitchell and had a pre-sale estimate of $60,000 to $80,000, the suit said.
Mitchell was a lunar module pilot on Apollo 14, which launched its nine-day mission in 1971 under the command of Alan Shepard. The sixth person to walk on the moon, Mitchell is now retired and runs a website selling his autographed picture.
He has made headlines in the past for his stated belief in the existence of extraterrestrial life.
"All equipment and property used during NASA operations remains the property of NASA unless explicitly released or transferred to another party," the government suit said, adding NASA had no record of the camera being given to Mitchell.
The suit said the government had made repeated requests to Mitchell and his lawyer to return the camera but received no response.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
If you really know him, please let him know that I appreciate what he risked for all of us.
If NASA gave the shuttle to the pilot for his service, no, I wouldn't begrudge him selling it.
Don’t know... didn’t hear anything about that. It’s been a long time since I heard that story.
Exactly!
Some people gripping should sit back and consider what the MAN did.
I suspect this is at least partly politically motivated payback for his ET activism.
I remember Apollo 13 (the real event, not the movie). These astronauts had to be truly brave to even attempt another try.
“If he was keeping it, this wouldn’t be an issue. He’s trying to sell it, and NASA’s pulling rank.
Which I have no problem with. It wasn’t his rocket that got him up there.”
This new “Can’t do” NASA is full of affirmative action creeps and bungholes who would not have the Guts to do what those Old Guys did,It is his to do with as he pleases,Period.
My feelings exactly besides IIRC that camera is made to be operated in space by a human.
And since NASA is not in the manned Spaceflight biz for the near future why the hell do they need it anyway?
And I re-post my earlier thoughts: Nuck F.A.S.A!
You tickled my memories about slide rules. As a college freshman I sweated to buy the gem of slide rules a K&E log-log duplex ivory over mahogany. It is a jewel I still have it. After WWII on the G.I. Bill I got a Pickett & Eckel magnesium vector log-log which was king of the rules at the time and which I still have. I picked up all kinds of rules along the way, small, large and circular. The advancement of handheld calculators really shelved the slide rules and hid the history. I remember an engineering prof telling the class that the most valuable things to an engineer were his slide rule and drafting set. Things will and do change.
Oh, I just remembered NASA's expertise on O-rings. No NASA VIPs were injured in that were there? It was the astronauts that paid the price.
Do you still know how to use the slide ruler? I picked one up at a thrift store in the 80’s and tried to grasp how to work it, but I couldn’t. We of course used calculators to do logarithms at that point. My college library at the time still had these HUGE volumes of logarithms, but they were just collecting dust. Along with the volumes of random numbers.
Ed is a great guy. He related to me how his grandparents came to Shepherd, Texas in a covered wagon and how their grandson walked on the moons surface. He and I lived in Roswell at the same time but we did not know each other at that time, his family owned a ranch out of town. We later became friends at meetings concerning the events at Roswell in 1947. Next time I see him I will convey your feelings, Thanks, :-)
Ed is a great guy. He related to me how his grandparents came to Shepherd, Texas in a covered wagon and how their grandson walked on the moons surface. He and I lived in Roswell at the same time but we did not know each other at that time, his family owned a ranch out of town. We later became friends at meetings concerning the events at Roswell in 1947. Next time I see him I will convey your feelings, Thanks, :-)
Since I was going to use it the rest of my life, I spent a little extra money to get a metal Pickett sliderule for part of 9th grade algebra.
Who could have imagined the changes that were coming? Some did, not me as a 9th grader. I bought a Casio electronic calculator only 5 years later for $200 IIRC.
Still have it. I keep it safe in my sock drawer.
Sorry about the dbl post but I was watching Fox News about Obama kissing the Muslim Brotherhoods ass and I got pissed and my hand twitched,. Grrrrrrrrrr
The slide rule is safe in my sock drawer.
Same deal with the camera....it wasn't his to sell.
They've been dogging NASA about this for the past few years. Looks like a publicity thing to me.
I wouldn't doubt that it really was given to him way back as he claims, but it's still too bad it can't be in a museum instead.
We were hauling hay in the farm truck and wagon. Both tail lights were broken out. The whole point was that once I spoke spanish he didn’t care to cite me for anything.
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