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NASA Sues Astronaut for Swiping Moon Camera

Moonwalker Edgar Mitchell tried to sell camera at auction

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff | Suggested by Larry-Crehore

Posted Jul 1, 2011 4:15 AM CDT

(Newser) – NASA is suing the sixth man on the moon for a camera that he says would have ended up as "government trash" or moon litter if he hadn't kept it. Government lawyers got involved after Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell attempted to sell the lunar movie camera at auction, where it was expected to fetch up to $80,000, Reuters reports. The 80-year-old astro rejects NASA's claim that he is "exercising improper dominion and control" over its camera and should return it immediately.

Mitchell—who admits that NASA has asked for the camera before—says moon mission astronauts were allowed to keep plenty of mementos. "We have dozens of pieces, all of us who flew to the moon," he tells the Palm Beach Post. Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean, the fourth man to walk on the moon, says he left behind the camera he took there in 1969. "Be kind to Ed," he says. "These things, back in those days, it wasn't important. We were trying to get to the moon and get back alive. The other stuff, it wasn't important."

Former NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell arrives for the premiere of the In the Shadow of the Moon, at the Hayden Planetarium.
Former NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell arrives for the premiere of the "In the Shadow of the Moon," at the Hayden Planetarium.   (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)
Alan Shepard, left and Edgar Mitchell, right, are seen on the moon in this photo from the 1971 Apollo 14 mission.
Alan Shepard, left and Edgar Mitchell, right, are seen on the moon in this photo from the 1971 Apollo 14 mission.   (Getty Images)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 3 comments
dann0
Jul 1, 2011 9:53 AM CDT
I don't think there is anything wrong with astronauts keeping souvenirs of pieces that are no longer needed for the mission. However, it should be treated just like the Academy Awards treats Oscars; neither the winner or their heirs can sell it without first offering to sell back to the Academy for $1. I think the memento should be his as long as he wants it, but the profits from sales should go back to NASA because its was initially a taxpayer investment.
Coolbreeze55
Jul 1, 2011 8:49 AM CDT
It sounds like a modern day bureaucrat got involved and made a dumb-ass 21st century decision.  Since film isn't used anymore, NASA has no use for the camera and you don't take relics into space. I agree. It sounds like a senseless attack on a moon hero.
Mr_Joshua
Jul 1, 2011 5:47 AM CDT
Way to go America. Gotta love the way you treat your heroes! This is just wrong. As he said, they all took "mementos" at the time. It was an accepted part of the game. To question this man's reputation now is beyond gross. "Had they not brought them back, they would have been destroyed, he said. After astronauts climbed back into the command module for the roughly 250,000-mile trip home, engineers in Houston blew up the lunar module, he said. "It was government throwaways, government junk," he said of the various items he salvaged. His most prized possession is a hand controller from the Apollo 14 spacecraft. "They were going to throw it away on the lunar surface, so why not?" he asked." And you can call me......................Mr Joshua

 
NASA • moon landings • Apollo 14 • astronaut • Edgar Mitchell

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