Government sues Apollo 14 astronaut over lunar camera

**Linda Kelso** · 07-01-2011

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.

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http://news.yahoo.com/government-sue...204401390.html

**PWR** · 07-01-2011

"The government is asking the court to stop Mitchell from selling the camera to anyone, to order its return and to declare that the United States has "good, clean and exclusive title" to the camera."
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No doubt the camera will ultimately be given to the current negro boss of NASA when it locks the doors.

**smedley butler** · 07-01-2011

I bet Mitchell saved it from the trash heap. The government routinely throws out equipment like that. The last manned mission to the moon was 1972. Since then we don't explore other worlds with manned space flight.

**smedley butler** · 07-02-2011

First of all, I'd like to see the other lunar cameras that NASA had saved from that era. (I bet it's zero.) If they didn't bother to save any of those (they probably threw them out as "junk") then why should they be allowed to take away Edgar Mitchell's souvenir? NASA wanted him to leave that camera on the moon, but he brought it back with him.

In the article below Mitchell notes "moon mission astronauts were allowed to keep plenty of mementos".

They were stars back then and were treated as such. Now some a-holes in the federal government see a chance to steal some money from a national hero, not to mention smearing him as some sort of "thief" in the process.

NASA didn't re-use the video cameras, they had new ones on each mission. When the moon mission ended, they didn't need the cameras, which were surpassed by improving video camera technology.

http://www.newser.com/story/122379/a...y-us-govt.html
NASA Sues Astronaut for Swiping Moon Camera

Moonwalker Edgar Mitchell tried to sell camera at auction

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff | Suggested by LarryC

Posted Jul 1, 2011 4:15 AM CDT

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.