How many Hasselblad's are on the Moon?

Photo Engineer · Mar 16, 2011

There was a lot of "contraband" aboard every space flight, and some items just vanished appearing later in the hands of project members. Not everything you see as "real" is! Some of it is made up of extra materials, the real stuff having been distributed among the "staff". My crew was the first group signed onto John Glenn's pad after the launch. I picked 2 bolts off the ground that were still smoking and also one of the ring seals from the capsule. One of the bolts was a part of an explosive bolt that released the Atlas on launch. I still have them both.

I have a spare film winder from one of the cameras that was tested and rejected due to size. It would not work with the glove. And, I have a photo of myself holding John Glenn's camera and standing in front of two other capsules in the white room. I still have my last set of white room garb, booties and hat!

PE

lxdude · Mar 17, 2011

Jeff Kubach said:
Not on Sundays!!

Jeff

fmajor · Mar 17, 2011

WOW! What an interesting career you've had - so cool to have been a part of pioneering efforts like reaching the stars!!!

lxdude · Mar 17, 2011

Yeah-great stuff, PE.
I recall reading somewhere that the color film was a special Ektachrome. One reason the thin base could be used was because the film was sandwiched between the pressure plate behind it and the glass plate in front of it which carried the markings visible on the images. I can't remember what that plate is called, darn it.

Steve Smith · Mar 17, 2011

Rousseau plate.

Steve.

vpwphoto · Mar 17, 2011

Hasselblad made earth bound surveying cameras too with Rousseau plates and super calibrated lenses for engineering-surveying purposes.

bobwysiwyg · Mar 17, 2011

Photo Engineer said:
I still have my last set of white room garb, booties and hat!
PE

Oh, come on, post a picture. Sounds like you had a lot of fun at work.. though probably not as much as most of us think at times.

paul ron · Mar 17, 2011

I do alot of winter photography and find the cold has an ill effect on stiffening the film. I also read a problem with polar explorers was also film actually cracking like glass at very cold temps n wouldn't advance in the magazine.

Were they using specail film or the out of the box Kodak stuff we use? Or maybe the sound stage they used in the dessert was warm enough?

makes you wonder?

TheFlyingCamera · Mar 17, 2011

Steve Smith said:
Rousseau plate.

Steve.

Reseau plate - not to nitpick, but I don't think NASA was sending 18th Century French philosphers to the moon.

vpwphoto · Mar 17, 2011

PE... with all the dangers and ounce by ounce calculations I am surprised at how much contraband made it into the capsules.
I always wondered about the golf ball... I have a feeling mission control "sh#t" when that came out on the moon.
Armstrong is such the pilot's pilot and engineer's engineer, I bet he little tolerance for such highjinx on his missions.

vpwphoto · Mar 17, 2011

thanks "Reseau plate"... I thought it was spelled wrong too... but I was too lazy to Google it.

bblhed · Mar 17, 2011

FYI, even if you could go to the moon and retrieve all the stuff up there, most of it has been claimed by the state of California including the "human waste" that was left behind. I have a feeling that their argument of ownership by claim wouldn't hold up in court against anyone that was actually holding an item from the moon in their hand. Everything on the moon is technically abandoned property and anyone that can go get it should have the right to keep, give or sell whatever they could bring back from the moon with them.

bobwysiwyg · Mar 17, 2011

bblhed said:
FYI, even if you could go to the moon and retrieve all the stuff up there, most of it has been claimed by the state of California including the "human waste" that was left behind. I have a feeling that their argument of ownership by claim wouldn't hold up in court against anyone that was actually holding an item from the moon in their hand. Everything on the moon is technically abandoned property and anyone that can go get it should have the right to keep, give or sell whatever they could bring back from the moon with them.

I suggest we send Uncle Earl to retreave it all.

Steve Smith · Mar 17, 2011

vpwphoto said:
thanks "Reseau plate"... I thought it was spelled wrong too... but I was too lazy to Google it.

I did and found lots of instances of it with the spelling I originally posted!

Steve.

Steve Smith · Mar 17, 2011

bblhed said:
I have a feeling that their argument of ownership by claim wouldn't hold up in court against anyone that was actually holding an item from the moon in their hand.

It would have to be heard in a Moon court as Earth law does not apply on the moon!

bblhed said:
Everything on the moon is technically abandoned property and anyone that can go get it should have the right to keep, give or sell whatever they could bring back from the moon with them.

I don't think it's ever going to be a problem though.

Steve.

lxdude · Mar 17, 2011

Steve Smith said:
Rousseau plate.

Steve.

No, those can only be used for Primitivist images.

Henri or Jean-Jacques, works either way.

lxdude · Mar 17, 2011

bblhed said:
FYI, even if you could go to the moon and retrieve all the stuff up there, most of it has been claimed by the state of California including the "human waste" that was left behind. I have a feeling that their argument of ownership by claim wouldn't hold up in court against anyone that was actually holding an item from the moon in their hand. Everything on the moon is technically abandoned property and anyone that can go get it should have the right to keep, give or sell whatever they could bring back from the moon with them.

Whaaa?? I knew Sacramento was loaded with dumbasses who waste time on ridiculous crap, while never being able to pass a budget on time, but if that's true, geez...
Why would they claim the um, "waste"? The Capital's full of that already!

bblhed · Mar 17, 2011

You just can't make this up.

In January the California Historical Resources Commission formally claimed, on behalf of the state, about 100 items of property on the surface of the moon having been left behind during the 1969 Apollo 11 landing (since California companies were instrumental in that mission and since only the moon surface itself is off limits to ownership claims under international law). Among the items declared are tools, a flag, bags of food and bags of human waste left by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. [BBC News, 1-30-10]

Lee L · Mar 17, 2011

Jeff Kubach said:
Not on Sundays!!

Jeff

A lunar day is about 28 earth days, so waiting until the stores open on Monday to get your Tri-X is a real drag.

Lee

Photo Engineer · Mar 17, 2011

Here is the photo in question. I am examining the Mercury camera with Red Williams, the camera builder. In the second photo, taken from the news after I left the cape, Red is shown with two of the astronauts.

In the background of the first photo, you can see the second and third capsules undergoing checkout. After this photo was taken, I went into the white room with one of the photo crew members and had a chance to stand up into the capsule. The door was facing down, so you just crawled under and stood up and you were inside the capsule.

PE

lxdude · Mar 17, 2011

bblhed said:
You just can't make this up.

In January the California Historical Resources Commission formally claimed, on behalf of the state, about 100 items of property on the surface of the moon having been left behind during the 1969 Apollo 11 landing (since California companies were instrumental in that mission and since only the moon surface itself is off limits to ownership claims under international law). Among the items declared are tools, a flag, bags of food and bags of human waste left by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. [BBC News, 1-30-10]

Gad.
We're dead broke, but we still somehow have to fund this kind of nonsense. Everything imaginable has some kind of agency or commission in this bloated beached whale of a state.
I was born here in Southern California, as were both my parents, but these days I'm a little embarrassed to say so.
/rant

BTW, what if Armstrong and Aldrin decide to lay claim to their own shit?

vpwphoto · Mar 17, 2011

PE... GOOD TO KNOW YOU.

Also I never thought about human waste on the moon. That cracks me up.

Photo Engineer · Mar 17, 2011

There is enough human waste in orbit that the returning shuttle and the exterior of the Space Station are "krudding" up! This is true though, and the astronauts have to be careful sanitizing themselves after a space walk. Frozen bits also can act as meteors striking with enough force to injure an astronaut. Kind of like a frozen brown mist in space!

Thanks VPW.....

PE

lxdude · Mar 17, 2011

Every job has its crap to put up with. I guess they can't be deterred...

TareqPhoto · Mar 17, 2011

I hope NASA will think to build a "Darkroom" there on the moon, to process "moon" Hassy films and print them, the film will expire before the shuttle reaches the earth.

How many Hasselblad's are on the Moon?

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