During the heyday of NASA in the Apollo years, it wa common practice for astronauts to keep mementos of their missions in the form of spare parts that were designated for the garbage upon completion of the mission, so long as the extras did not interfere with weight requirements of the Apollo space capsules. To this end, many of the Apollo 11 through 18 astronauts brought back souvenirs, with NASA approval.

On Apollo 14, astronaut Edgar Mitchell, the sixth man to walk on the Moon, decided to keep a camera for himself that would have been otherwise left on the Moon in the lander after its tape had been removed. Now, 40 years after the mission, NASA is suing in order top prevent Mitchell, now 80, from selling the camera, which is valued at up to $80,000. The claim: NASA made multiple requests to Mitchell for the return of the camera, all of which were ignored.

So, how could this legal mess come about?

According to Donld “Deke” Slayton, in an interview reproduced at collectspace.com, the astronauts had to make a list of items they wished to return with to Earth. An inventory of the items was made and the list was given to mission managers who, if the weight limits were not exceeded, usually allowed the astronauts to keep what they desired. At the time, though, no one thought to consider the idea of astronauts selling such keepsakes for personal profit as most of the objects brought back found their way into astronauts’ homes to to museums.

Now, enter the auction.

In the decades since the Apollo missions, many of the astronauts’ souvenirs have hit the auction block without issue, In fact, Mitchell himself had other items up for sale at the same auction as the camera. However, it was the sale of the camera alone to which the government objected. The reason? In the suit, NASA alleges that Mitchell never got official authorization to keep the camera in the first place, which technically means that it is still government property. In addition to trying to keep the camera, the government also wants Mitchell to foot the bill for legal costs, too.

As for Mitchell, he called the whole situation “utter nonsense” and has seemingly vowed to fight the lawsuit.

 

 

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