NASA and Apollo Astronaut Camera Lawsuit is a Go

Stupid lawsuit.
The man went to the moon and back and only took a camera that was intended to be destroyed, not even brought back. And now that he needs some money (obviously, the retirement of these true heroes is nothing to brag about) the govt. wants it back? Just pretend it was destroyed, as initially planned, and get over it.

The Astronaut went to the moon and risked their life of not being able return home if something bad happens. And this is how NASA treat them?

Stupid of both sides. Give the camera to me, I'll sell it and donate the money to charity. Everyone is happy, except the lawyers

It's still theft, he could have ASKED for something small, maybe a bolt from the hull. It's not as if he wasn't raking in a huge salary/retirement so don't play the whole 'he went to the moon and this is how he's treated'.

I wouldn't say this is a petty suit, the camera belongs in a museum nowaday's not this fella's mantel.

The biggest problem I see with this is that taking along more equipment (and mass) than the mission planned for could have endangered the mission. They had to have the mass of all astronauts and any thing that they brought with them in order to calculate trajectories and fuel usage. If you suddenly add more mass to the return trip than they had planned for then you suddenly are using more fuel, not reaching the same velocities, and have a stronger wieght force on you. I don't know what he was thinking or why other astronauts went along with his potentially life-threatening souvenir.

I like to see where this charade goes...

This is really stupid on NASA's part... I know Obama left them with no cash... but come on.

It's getting a lot of thumbs down, but this is 100% true...

Although, I don't think a single camera would've been enough to significantly alter their trajectory, it's still a concern.

@cognoscentiable , he is saying he did not steal the camera. He is saying NASA gave it to him as a gift for a job well done.

@webbwbb, who is to say he did not have permission prior to re-entry?

You guys that are commenting don't have a clue since none of us know the facts.

Maybe NASA wants the camera back so that they have something from the original Apollo missions to study (other than the stuff they already have). After the Apollo mission and budget cuts NASA literally tossed all their mission parts, manuals, notes, anything that was deemed unnecessary for the space shuttle program. Now they have only some knowledge of how to get back to the moon, and is "buying" all the old stuff back. Just my opinion as to why a broke space agency feels the need to take back a camera of dubious value that might cost NASA more in lawyers than the camera itself.

I don't know, I find myself agreeing with NASA on this one. While I don't have a problem with the astronaut himself keeping it as a memento, the Camera was paid for with tax money and that makes me feel like it's not really his to profit on.

The camera was part of the mission, installed by NASA. Mitchell took it from NASA, which technically is stealing. However, NASA does not need it, so why care one way or the other on the matter? Oh! Because NASA is broke too and probably wants to sell it to a museum as well!

not to sound like a conspiracy person but what if their is something on that camera they don't want people to know.

Lets put some perspective on this..
This guy went to the moon..Check.
In doing so, he and his crew mates risked their lives to further scientific understanding of space, and to explore the ultimate unknown.
I don't see any of these assholes jumping into a 1960's designed space ship to go grab some relic. Finders keepers, he did all the work; Screw their claim they abandoned it. Its his. Pure and simple.

There's 2 things of importance in question, the first is the actual camera and roll of film which has significant importance to specific organizations like the Gates photo collection of rare and original photo's. The second is the contents on the photos, NASA prides itself on sharing discovery's and knowledge with the public. The ruling should end with Edgar being able to sell the item, but only after the pictures have been developed and copies given to NASA along with all the rights and privileges to use them. The photo's could provide some insight to solve a problem, a picture is sometimes worth more than any amount of money.

From the viewpoint of the judge - this may be a thing that he sees needs to be properly defined in court, so as to set precedence in cases like this. It's not as simple a matter as "oh it's just junk NASA threw out", and NASA's response even out of court could effect more serious matters that come along.

Frankly, Ross's judgement of NASA's actions is something I expect from a child, not a journalist. A good journalist reports in an unbiased way, doesn't give a whiny 2-bit opinion from a narrow-minded view of the world. I'd say that he has some excuse in light of the low quality "journalists" we see on television, but then we are all ultimately responsible for our own actions, so he has no excuse in the end.

Do I think he should be allowed to keep the memento? Certainly. Do I think he should be allowed to sell it? As long as a clear, legal procedure will define the new owner as having clear title (something this legal stuff will do is help not only establish clear title but add to provenance, proof of what the item is and where it came from), it would be his to sell, and I have no problems with that.

There seems to be some idea here that NASA will never, ever go back, and never, ever want to look at the equipment left behind.

I want to suggest that the first is a ludicrous idea, and the second, if you stop to think about it considering the inquisitive nature of scientists in general, would be normally expected if the objects could be located.

If you think about this far enough in the future, the rulings in this court case could effect explorers not associated with NASA at all stumbling across the old first-landing site and claiming the equipment as their own. That's not going to happen anytime soon, of course, but it will become a possibility, and NASA may well be looking far into the future.

I actually am an engineering major who has interned for NASA and has always had a passion for rocketry. One of the things I worked on is a mock mission plan for a Mars mission where I had to figure out the mass of all of the equipment and calculate the amount of fuel it would need to use. Something like this that was done by a pilot with no background in physics or engineering who was not authorized to do it could have doomed the mission.

Jesus... the man went to the moon, give him a break

"Jesus... the man went to the moon, give him a break"

Yeah, and I went to a 7-11 at 3am in a VERY bad part of town once. What am I entitled for it? The fact he took a glorified aircraft ride to an exotic destination should have NO bearing on the matter at all. Neither should his rank, position, or status. Its a matter of ownership.

The ascent stage that the camera was attached to crashed into the Moon after they left, so all that is left now is a new crater, and maybe some metal debris.

The thing to remember is that he didn't stash the camera under his shirt. Everything that came back from the Moon went into quarantine, and was certainly inventoried. So NASA knew he had the camera. If they didn't raise the issue then, or in the 40 years since, it has been tacitly abandoned by them, as they evidently didn't care enough to raise a fuss all those years.

On mass: If this thing was a quarter ton you'd have a point. If it's a Polaroid with an altered frame and grease that won't freeze and lock up in low temperatures, then it's probably well within the margins for a person's weight fluctuations, let alone calculations for the entire capsule. Or he left a can of Tang on the moon to balance weight.

On legality: The re-entry vehicle didn't ferry the crew directly to their homes with a note saying "Good run guys, check in with the office some time this month. Please respect the courtesy fridge." It splashed down in the middle of the ocean, was fished out by a warship, and the crew were "debriefed" afterwards. Something going on at the time called the Cold War meant that security around the most advanced aerospace program in the free world was rather tight, he'd have needed approval to keep a toothbrush, let alone camera equipment. He'd not have been able to haul that thing from the moon to back home in secret.

This isn't a case of theft, this is a case of paperwork. Someone in 2011 decided they didn't like the way things worked in 1964, so they're dragging a national hero through court because he didn't have paperwork that was probably invented some time in the 80's for all we know.

Wrong.

Also isn't NASA more private now? Hmmm would explain this lawsuit with how happen the corporate world is with them.

Let him have the damn thing. He deserves it.

Stupid NASA

Great... now they're trying to act like the RIAA, patent trolls, etc...

The weight of one camera would make no difference at all in the flight plan. Sheesh, they wouldn't be able to dump the urine into space if the weight limits were that tight. No President since Nixon has been even remotely kind to NASA's budget, but this is someone being petty beyond belief. One would think that some sort of staute of limitations would be in effect if he stole it, which is what NASA is essentially saying (not that I believe that is true). What are they claiming? He checked it out of the library for 40 years?

.webbwbb

You need ot take a close look at the backgrounds of the Apollo astronauts. They were much better educated than the chimps and dogs. What, did you think they were grabbing used car salesmen and shooting them into space? Heck, jump on a scale every day and see how your weight varies (human wastes did not stay aboard the craft). Now repeat the process next time you have the flu (to simulate the queasy stomach that people who actually go into space report having). While your at it, try living off of thermo-stabilized hot dogs with cheese spread (and no, I didn't make that up). He probably made the calculations MORE accurate by keeping the weight closer to what was expected. The average weight loss by the men was 15 pounds each (google it), and you thing a 1 pound camera would wreck the whole flight?

Hey NASA needs the money. They will auction it off and give the money to Obama's Re-election Campaign.

That camera probably took pictures it wasn't supposed to have taken. That camera and film probably have a unique one of kind optics and film signature. Thus, that camera could be used to corroborate NASA's after the fact cover up. Somebody, not thinking long term, probably leaked out some photos from that camera and put it on YouTube.

Damn bureaucrats have zero sense of what is right. Give him the darn camera. Most of these buttholes that are wanting it back were probably not even born when this guy risked his life. Such stupidity on their part. Makes them look really, really bad.

How can you steal abandoned property?