Should Apollo 13 Cmdr. Be Allowed to Sell a Checklist With His Mission-Saving Calculations?
- Posted on January 6, 2012 at 2:46pm by
Liz Klimas
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This checklist with notes written by Apollo 13 commander James Lovell was sold for more than $388,000. Sale is being suspended by NASA questioning if Lovell had the right to sell it. (Photo: AP File)
MIAMI (The Blaze/AP) — Apollo 13 commander James Lovell may have another problem on his hands. NASA is questioning whether Lovell has the right to sell a 70-page checklist from the flight that includes his handwritten calculations that were crucial in guiding the damaged spacecraft back to Earth.
The document was sold by Heritage Auctions in November for more than $388,000, some 15 times its initial list price. The checklist gained great fame as part of a key dramatic scene in the 1995 film “Apollo 13” in which actor Tom Hanks plays Lovell making the calculations.
After the sale, NASA contacted Heritage to ask whether Lovell had title to the checklist. Greg Rohan, president of Dallas-based Heritage, said Thursday the sale has been suspended pending the outcome of the inquiry. The checklist, he said, is being stored for now in the company’s vault.
Rohan said Lovell provided a signed affidavit that he had clear title to the ring-bound checklist, which is standard procedure. Heritage does robust business in space memorabilia and this is the first time NASA has ever raised questions about ownership of its items, he added.
“It’s one that is near and dear to our hearts,” Rohan said of the space collectibles business. “We, like a lot of people, consider these astronauts to be national heroes.”
The latest inquiry follows a federal lawsuit NASA filed last year in Miami against Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell seeking return of a camera he brought back from his 1971 moon mission. That lawsuit was settled in October when Mitchell agreed to give the camera to NASA, which in turn is donating it to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.
NASA spokesman Bob Jacobs said the lawsuit and Lovell inquiry do not represent a broad new agency effort to recover space items.
“It’s a challenge to continually monitor the growing auctions community, which is usually how these items come to light,” he said in an email. “This latest issue demonstrates a need to reach out to former astronauts and other former agency personnel who may have these kind of items.”
The Apollo 13 moon mission was aborted about 200,000 miles from Earth when an oxygen tank exploded on April 13, 1970, causing another tank to fail and seriously jeopardizing the three-man crew’s ability to return home. Astronaut Jack Swigert famously said “Houston, we’ve had a problem here” after the explosion.
Tom Hanks plays Lovell in the 1995 film "Apollo 13".
Here‘s the film’s representation of that famous scene:
The crew was forced to move from the command ship into the attached lunar landing module for the return flight. Lovell’s calculations on the checklist were key in transferring navigation data from the command craft to the lunar module.
NASA has raised questions about title rights for three other space items Heritage had sold in the same November auction. Two were from Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweikart: a lunar module identification plate that brought more than $13,000 and a hand controller that received a $22,705 bid. The space agency also targeted a fourth item, a hand glove worn by Alan Shepard during training for Apollo 14, that brought more than $19,000.
In an email to Heritage, NASA Deputy Chief Counsel Donna M. Shafer said there was no indication the agency had ever transferred ownership of any of the items to the astronauts.
“Only NASA has the authority to clear NASA property for sale,” Shafer said in the email, which was provided by NASA to The Associated Press.
She said the matter has been turned over to NASA’s Office of Inspector General, adding that “there is potential risk of the items being seized by the government until title issues have been resolved.”
James Lovell in 1969.
Lovell, 83, who lives near Chicago and owns a restaurant bearing his name in Lake Forest, Ill., declined comment through a spokeswoman.
In the Mitchell lawsuit, his attorney argued prior to the settlement that NASA officials told astronauts long ago they could keep certain equipment from the missions, and many such items wind up on auction house lists. A 1972 NASA memo seems to back up that claim, requiring only that the astronauts provide the agency with lists of items in their possession.
Apollo 15 astronauts were reprimanded after they took unauthorized, special envelopes to the moon with stamps that were given a special postal marking shortly after their return in 1971. They had a deal with a German stamp dealer who later sold them for $1,500 each.
Last month, the NASA inspector general reported that since 1970, more than 500 pieces of moon rocks, meteorites, comet chunks and other space material have been stolen or gone missing. The report said NASA needs to keep better track of some 26,000 samples sent to researchers and museums or the agency runs greater risk they will be lost.
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Comments (67)
Guitarcarl
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 9:07pmSeems like the guy should be able to keep his own handwritten notes. People get notes and check list at their jobs everyday, most of which end up in the trash. If he was wise enough to save some of the crap the other guys probably threw in the trash, good for him. If they made me give them back I would erase all my notes first and tell them to kiss my @$$!
Report Post »NoRoomForSocialismHere
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:23pmHe was on company time, OUR time. We trained him to do a job for US and it cost billions so it is OURS.
Report Post »Whos pen a paper was it.
It belongs in the Smithsonian Institute we paid for it dearly, it is not his!
MR_ANDERSON
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 2:32amYou maybe right that people get notes and check lists at their jobs everyday, but not everyone does their work for the US Government while reading lists and writing notes on Government property at the same time of traveling through space.
You can’t make money off Government property unless you pay for it, or it is an authorize release to you, in which either way, there would be paperwork to prove you should have the item(s).
Report Post »Pigpen
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 6:07pmIs that a blue Sticky Note on the 1965 binder? Didn’t Art Fry invent Sticky Notes in 1980? Um, at the risk of sounding like a “conspiracy nut”, I am going to have to call “Hitler Diaries” on that one.
Report Post »duskerhu
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 4:37amAh, Mr. Pigpen, if you jy-norma-size the pic of the binder with the POST IT note, you’d see the note explains the signifigance of the binder and hand written notes on it, probably for the auctioneer, and is signed by Mr. Lovel. Obviously applied at a more recent date than sometime in the 70′s (and not a 1965 binder, the mission was April of 1970)
For what it’s worth, my opinion is as follows…
Report Post »My uncle worked at the Johnson Space Center in Houston from the mid 60‘s through about ’78. As a five year old in 1970, a few months after the Apollo 13 mission, my mother took my brother and I on our first airplane trip to Houston to see our aunt and uncle and cousins. The highlight of the trip was the tour my uncle took us on at the Space Center. Of course, my brother and I took home many suveniers (?sp?) from that trip but none more impressive than the tiny litttle moon rocks my uncle gave each of us. Point being, my uncle, by June of 1970, had enough space material by that point that he didn’t mind giving his two young nephews each a little chunk of moon rock. NASA was giving the stuff out like it was candy. They told the astronauts they could keep some stuff. They (NASA) never thought about “Space Stuff” being auctioned back and forth forty years later and now they want their toys back. They should now pull some integrity out of somewhere dark and let these guys sell the stuff they have, to private collectors, museums or whoever they so wish.
Secret Squirrel
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 10:14am.
Report Post »“Seems like the guy should be able to keep his own handwritten notes.”
Really? Try that if you work for Apple, Microsoft, or NSA.
While on the payroll, everything you do belongs to the company.
Now, if he brought a teddy bear with him, and later wanted to sell it, yes, I’d allow that.
NASA notes? No Way. Sorry.
GI_JOJO
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 11:34am@nomoresocialism are you seriously making that comment with a name like that? Or were you going for sarcasm?
Report Post »ProbIemSoIver
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 2:54pmNASA does NOT own James Lovell
just as,
The U.S. Government never OWNED me !!!!!!
How do they think they ever had the Authority to pledge ME as COLLATERAL to the FEDERAL RESERVE PRIVATE BANK for the Bankruptcy of 1933 ????
Report Post »AZDude
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 11:24pmI am sure the Smithonion can get a copy
Report Post »of the Book,,, But,, I f Jim can sell at auction after what that Crew Braved ,, and Managed to Splash back Down on this Planet,,, If he wants to sell HIS Checklist that saved HIS Life with HIS Math on it,,, I got NO problem with That
Scothantlas
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 1:17pmI agree with you Guitargirl, he has every right to sell them. Yes taxpayer funds did indeed pay for the actual note pad and pen that he used to write the notes. However, it was Commander Lovell’s exploits and information and math skill from HIS head that makes that pad worth anything at all. So yes he has every right to sell it. If the government wanted it back they should have requested it upon his return from the apollo 13 mission.
Report Post »the_ancient
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 8:15pmWhy don‘t you get back to your Muslim Outreach program and leave our National Hero’s alone
I know that ever since you have been pushed to the side of irrelevancy your desperate to hang on to any thing that will grab you some headlines, but please do not completely destroy your reputation
Report Post »NoRoomForSocialismHere
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:27pmTom Hanks always making money on American history but is a damn Hollywood commie.
WE PAID MILLIONS FOR HIS TRAINING AND THE PAPER THAT WAS USED ON AN AMERICAN TAXPAYER VEHICLE.
It belongs to Americans and should be preserved as such
Report Post »PeachyinGA
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 7:54pmShame on NASA. It has finally seen the writing on the wall that this administration money-flow is dried up and they‘re going after America’s heroes like Lovell to grab everything that will make them a buck. Considering what those guys were paid for what they went through, they deserve a whole lot more than to keep their mission notes, an id plate or a training glove!
Report Post »Opine436
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 5:43pmWho’s running this outfit, Vince McMan?
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 7:16pmSo, NASA doesn’t actually send people into space anymore, instead they sit around in drum circle focus groups, pondering lawsuits against American hero’s, when not discussing how to make terrorist Muslims our best friends…..
Report Post »fuzzy20841
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 5:14pmPlease be careful Jim. As I recall the Feds recently confiscated a massive Blue fin Tuna from a poor New England fisherman and put the funds in the treasury! They need the money to pay the salary of the new “Chief of Invitations” The more they get the more the creeps spend!
Report Post »deac0n
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 5:10pmnasa must be gurting for money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »clockwatcher
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 5:09pmShame on the black jimmy carter and his ilk. This man is a hero, the book belongs to him.
Report Post »Robert-CA
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 4:27pmit was in his possession that means it’s his .
Report Post »& how much $$$$$$$$ NASA is wasting now by trying to collect it ?
& how much $$$$$$$$ NASA wasted by trying to reach out to the muslim world ?
Seneca264
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 4:15pmI had my secret clearance revoked just for having knowledge about someone else selling government property. It turns out that it was not government property after all and I still have my clearance revoked. The checklist does not belong to Lovell, it belongs to the taxpayer. This checklist should be destined for a museum so all the taxpayers can see it. Oh, by the way, I am sure the government did not revoke Lovells security clearance. He gets a free pass. That’s how life works. All that said, Lovell is a hero in my book.
Report Post »nocalifornia
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 1:21pmYou lost your clearance because you kept an alleged security breach to yourself this is a violation of the conditions under which you were granted a clearance. Take responsibility for your own actions and stop trying to blame others for your lack of character.
Report Post »Arshloch
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 4:11pmNASA, now known as Nolonger any space action, needs to shut their pie hole. The list belongs to Jim and he can do with it as he sees fit.
Report Post »jimroc
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 9:37amAgreed.
Report Post »If you could take millions of pounds of thrust under your ass to push you to the moon and back and think the government is man enough step forward.
rskreutzer
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 4:03pmJim Lovell, one of the best-of-the-best ever to work for NASA, took a 3 ring binder filled with paper out of the Odyssey. It’s only value, beyond a few dollars for the binder and the paper, is because of his actions. He gave the item its value by his actions. I’m sure NASA discarded the hundreds of binders from the flight that were used at Mission Control, at the Cape and at the tracking stations. I’m sure tons of paper associated with the flight were discarded. Lovell saved this item. He gave it value. He preserved it. It’s his property. If NASA wants anything for it, let Jim pay them for it in 1972 dollars…I think he can scrounge that up from his pocket in change. Alas, knowing the character of the man, if NASA says that it is his duty to let them have it, he will probably let them take it. He was, and is, that kind of guy.
Report Post »DirectlyUnPCman
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 4:14pmToo much government here. Back off!
Report Post »georgepatton
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 4:00pmJim lovell put his life on the line and was crucial in saving the astronauts lives.WHAT THE HELL IS THE PROBLEM WITH HIM SELLING A BOOK??????????????????
Report Post »BOMUSTGO
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 3:54pmI want to see the NASA Muslim outreach checklist!
Report Post »lodgerat
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 4:46pmThank you for bring this up. I had a fit when NASA became an outreach program to the Moooslims instead of a space program. No big deal the Chinese and others will take up the slack. By the way, how much are we paying the Russians for a ride to the space station. Another example of NoBama ruining a big part of America.
TEA
Report Post »wordweaver
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 3:50pmIt would be nice to see these historic pieces safeguarded by NASA so they could end up in museums where taxpayers could enjoy them, but if NASA was so loose with the chain of custody of stuff like this after a mission, I don’t see that they have a complaint coming. Maybe they should have collected it all inside of a hangar after the mission, and told the astronauts, “Go ahead and choose three things as momentos. The rest is ours.”
Report Post »AwakenedGiant
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 3:41pmThis reminds me of the movie the RIGHT STUFF, where the astronauts were stuffing their suits with items to sell when they returned from SPACE, it made them look like car salesmen and cheap. I have no doubt the astronauts have a great pension, why this piece didnt end up in a museum is ridiculous.
Report Post »GhostOfJefferson
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 3:45pmWell, see, Americans used to be capitalists and had no problem with making some cash on the side. In fact, that trait used to be considered quite admirable. The notion of “The Soviet Provides, You Need For Nothing, All Belongs To The Soviet!” hadn’t quite breached these shores at the time.
Report Post »HellPhish89
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 3:50pmtheres nothing wrong with it :shrugs:
Report Post »AwakenedGiant
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 5:13pmI am sorry, these are astronauts, the original astronauts, they are heros, they risked their lives, they did this for America. The sale was 15 times the initial list price price which would have been about 26,000 dollars which he would have been happy with, big deal, after tax what does he get 13,000? This was a cheap stunt, and it forever damages this astronaut in my eyes, these men are icons, not car salesmen. It should have been sold to a museum if anything. This was a piece of history, and belonged to the US citizens who footed the bill. Sorry. This is a shame
Report Post »FEMALL
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 3:34pmIt’s his. His math skills and ability which he studied, learned and applied saved not only lives–but NASA. Too bad we don’t have a Congress and President willing or able to do the same for the USA.
O=USA we are screwed.
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 3:21pmThat 368,000 will last our criminal federal government one minute and twelve seconds…. Fu€< themm!!!!
Report Post »Hill60
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 3:18pmWe’re not talking about leaving a hotel with a couple of pens and towels. We’re talking about climbing out of US government owned piece of property and absconding with the contents.
Report Post »An item like this should be on display at the National Air and Space Museum, and should never have left NASA’s control.
I understand that most of their personal gear was custom-fit, and if it was given to the astronauts after completion of their mission (Shepard’s glove) then it’s up to the astronaut to do with it as they please. The data book wasn‘t Lovell’s to take.
georgepatton
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 4:03pmBetter call the waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaambulace someone is crying!
Report Post »cristo52
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 3:11pmAlong those lines, the Department of Army wants the Custer family to return the arrow found in the back of Grandpa Custer.
Report Post »DesertRose1960
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 3:42pmCuster had no children and he’s buried on government property. I’ve been there. His party lay in the open fields under a July sun for several days before he was buried.
Report Post »Athinkerinaseaoflibs
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 3:06pmMy first thought is that federal treasury should get the money but changed my mind. The feds will just squander it anyways. I give me kids money for lunch at school. If that money went to the feds it would be too much to trust them with.
Report Post »BBReggie
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 3:04pmIf it is his property he can do anything with it he wants.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 3:16pmIf the Feds want it, let them out bid the other bidders! Those guys didn’t get rich and the feds blow that much in a day on bagels.
Report Post »GhostOfJefferson
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 3:18pmYep. This settles the matter, if it’s true.
“A 1972 NASA memo seems to back up that claim, requiring only that the astronauts provide the agency with lists of items in their possession.”
If he provided the item on the list, it’s his. You either own property, or you do not. There is no middle ground.
Report Post »Toxic Pirate
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 3:55pmThe Fed is 17 Trillion in debt thedy can’t afford to bid on used toilet paper. Wait thats what the dollar is !!!!
Report Post »TRONINTHEMORNING
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 3:03pmI know Jim Irwin’s widow quite well. If she wanted to sell something that he had in space, I would say go for it. So yeah, other Jim–go for it!!!
Report Post »thorkyl
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 3:02pmIf NASA did not take it from him when he landed/retired then the presumption and implied of ownership of the check list is that Lovell owns it, and therefore can do what he wants with it.
NASA is broke just like every other FED agency, they just want the money, not the book
Report Post »ozchambers
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 3:22pmI think I agree with your assessment. Unless NASA can demonstrate that Lovell took it without permission or that there was a violation of protocol in his taking this item home decades ago, it should be considered his personal property to do with as he sees fit. If he had thrown it in the garbage would NASA be filing suit?
Report Post »jzs
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 3:02pmThank you Blaze for getting the quote right: “Houston, we’ve had a problem here.”
He did NOT say, as in the movie, “Houston we have a problem!”
Report Post »BOMUSTGO
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 2:57pmHe should be able to sell it.
Report Post »DesertRose1960
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 3:44pmIt’s government property, and government owned work product. It was paid for by the taxpayers, why should he profit from it? Are you willing to give it away? It should be in either NASA archives or the National Archives, it is a huge piece of history.
Report Post »BOMUSTGO
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 3:58pmHe did give up one of his socks for NASA to make that CO2 scrubber.It’s a fair trade.
Report Post »BOMUSTGO
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 4:01pmHe defaced government property by writing on it.The Government should put him in jail.(Rolling my eyes!) (* ) (* )
Report Post »GhostOfJefferson
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 4:04pmTry reading the article Desert. NASA memos from the time back up the “you can keep it” meme.
Sorry, your Dear Government is wrong. That has to sting.
Report Post »BOMUSTGO
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 4:07pmI have some Government things from being in the first Gulf War…Many casings from 30mm shells, 40 mm,105 casing from an AC-130 gunship, remove before flight flags and devices, a Luu-2 flare timing device and a flare parachute, an Iraqi gunsight from a 23mm AAA gun that was captured, many leaflets that were intended to be dropped on the Iraqi soldiers…..Time to sell!!!
Report Post »Shellback
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 7:04pm@Bom,
Report Post »Your sock reference was hilarious. I have a pin with a pennant that reads “Remove Before Launching” that was attached to a former submarine signal flare. Guess I should give that back as well. Its other destiny was to be flushed out with the other trash. Someone else wrote correctly that NASA probably threw out over hundreds of the same flight manual from that mission, but now that have to have that one. Screw them and their moooslim outreach.