Moon Suit

Apollo Astronaut Ed Mitchell has gone from deep space to deep doo-doo, as the Federal Government’s Attorneys have filed suit against him for the theft of a camera.

The camera in question is the one Mitchell used to document the Apollo 14 moon landing.  NASA’s plan was for the camera to remain with the Lunar Excursion Module, and be destroyed when the LEM was allowed to crash on the moon’s surface after use.  Mitchell chose to remove it instead, and has kept it as a personal souvenir since returning to earth in 1971.

Mitchell’s attorney claims the camera was given to the astronaut as a gift - in line with NASA's then existing policies governing spent equipment.  The Government claims no record of transfer exists, and if it isn’t moon dust, it’s the property of the U.S. government.

U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Hurley has denied Mitchell's motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought against him by the U.S. government last June, and the case should go to a jury in Florida in October 2012.

Must have been a slow day in the office when some fed noticed that the 80-year-old moon walker had the 16mm camera up for sale - “Hey! That old camera is supposed to be moon litter.  Let’s file suit and make him take it back where it belongs.”