Moon Camera for Sale (The Pictures are Free)

5 minute read
Scott salutes the flag after exiting the LEM and beginning his and Irwin's third trek of their lunar stay. Angled sunlight washes through the red, white and blue.
Scott salutes the flag after exiting the LEM and beginning his and Irwin's third trek of their lunar stay. Angled sunlight washes through the red, white and blue.Jim Irwin—NASA
By Jeffrey Kluger

The machines that made the Apollo program a success were, on the whole, huge. The Saturn V rocket rocket stood 363 ft. (111 m) tall. The scaffold-like gantry that serviced it measured nearly 400 ft. (122 m). The slow-motion crawler that took the rocket out to the launch pad weighed a tidy 6 million lbs. (2.7 million kg). But one of the most important machines that flew on any flight could fit in the astronauts’ hands, and weighed just 1.8 lbs. (0.8 kg)—even less in lunar gravity. It was the purpose-built, Hasselblad 500 EL camera, only 14 which ever flew to the moon, and only one of which—used by the late Jim Irwin, lunar module pilot for the July 1971 Apollo 15 mission—is known to have made it home. Once the last film canister had been removed, the cameras were supposed to remain on the surface to help shave weight during lunar liftoff.

Irwin’s camera is now being auctioned off by an Italian collector of historical artifacts at the Westlicht Gallery in Vienna, which expects it to go for $200,000 to $270,000. That may be a lot to pay for a camera that will never take another picture, but it’s nothing at all considering the history this particular Hasselblad captured—and made. The lunar Hasselblad had only a few key differences from Earthly models. Its knobs had to be especially well-sealed against moon dust, which is finer than confectioner’s sugar and has a nasty habit of jamming unprotected gears.

An ultra-thin film had to be invented for the missions, allowing 240 exposures to fit into a single magazine, which minimized the number of times the astronauts would have to change canisters. The cameras had the same F-stop, focus and depth controls any other camera does, but in this case, a small post poked from each knob, making it easier for astronauts wearing bulky lunar gloves to turn them with a one-finger-push instead of a five-finger twist.

“The only major issue we had to deal with was the sun,” Apollo 15 commander Dave Scott told TIME in a recent conversation. On the airless moon, sunlight simply doesn’t behave the way it does on a world in which the atmosphere creates all manner of colors, shades and other effects. “You were either pointing up-sun, down-sun or cross-sun and we had to adjust the shot to accommodate that. Otherwise, there was little we did that was different from what you’d do on Earth.”

But if the point-focus-and-shoot process was familiar, the things the astronauts’ photographed were radically different.The moon pictures that have stuck in the popular imagination are typically the glamour shots—the glittering lunar module, the spindly moon car, the saluting astronauts, the rising Earth. But the ones the scientists were interested in were all about geology. Every single one of the 843 lbs. (342 kg) of rocks that the six Apollo landing missions returned had to be identified in terms of exactly where it was found, the better to distinguish the properties of samples collected on foothills or mountains from those on plains or crater rims. And that meant a lot of scene-setting pictures. “Every time I stopped the lunar rover, I’d do a switch-off and a clean-up and Jim would get out and do a 360-degree pan,” says Scott. “He just nailed it every time. I did OK, but Jim left us a real legacy.”

The very ordinariness of some of Irwin’s pictures is what makes them feel especially real. It’s not just the shots in which the rover is badly framed or a piece of Scott intrudes from a corner—pictures that never made it into NASA’s carefully curated press releases. It’s the ones of the soil that also include crumpled bits of film packaging left on the ground—lunar litter indistinguishable from the Earthly variety nearly every tourist has been guilty of dropping at some point. “When you’re onsite and doing things, you don’t think about photographing for the ages,” Scott says. “We just took pictures of everything we could.”

All of Scott’s and Irwin’s pictures—as well as those from Apollos 11 through 17—survive on NASA’s Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, a searchable site that also includes air-to-ground transcripts and extensive captions explaining the images. The descriptions are technical—even arid, sometimes—befitting the exercise in physics and engineering that all of the moon missions, regardless of their drama, really were. The humanity lies elsewhere—in the very improbability of the pictures, taken at a time when Americans went to the moon simply because they decided to do such an outrageous thing.It lives too in the memories of the surviving men who made the journeys and in what they can pass on. Scott currently lectures at Brown University, teaching Millennial students something about the last millennium’s culture,when explorers worked with engineers who worked with politicians who worked with the public to collaborate on achieving something fleeting but wonderful.

“We got involved in this thing and it goes so fast and then it’s over,” Scott says. “Back in test pilot school, we had automatic cameras in the cockpit to photograph everything, so that when we got back we could remember what happened.” The hand-operated cameras Scott and Irwin and the others used serve the same function, but in this case it’s not just the pilots who get to remember, it’s all of us.

The 70mm Hasselblad used on the Apollo 15 mission in 1971 will be auctioned at Vienna’s Westlicht Gallery on March 21, 2014.

Jeffrey Kluger is an editor-at-large at TIME, overseeing the magazine’s science, health and technology reporting.

Lunar astronauts often took two pictures of the same sample spot to allow a stereoscopic perspective when the pictures were later developed. This is the second of a pair Scott took after he scooped up soil at one site. The multi-colored strip on he right was used as a color reference.
Lunar astronauts often took two pictures of the same sample spot to allow a stereoscopic perspective when the pictures were later developed. This is the second of a pair Dave Scott took after he scooped up soil at one site. The multi-colored strip on he right was used as a color reference.Dave Scott—NASA
Close-up of the top of the lunar surface magnetometer, which was used to measure the moon's magnetic activity.
Close-up of the top of the lunar surface magnetometer, which was used to measure the moon's magnetic activity. Dave Scott—NASA
Every Apollo crew deployed what was known as an Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) which, as the name suggests, was an array of various sensors and instruments. Each was connected to a central station, pictured here. A stray bolt and other debris littered the ground nearby.
Every Apollo crew deployed what was known as an Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) which, as the name suggests, was an array of various sensors and instruments. Each was connected to a central station, pictured here. A stray bolt and other debris littered the ground nearby.Dave Scott—NASA
The solar wind spectrometer experiment was an instrument that bore a striking (but completely coincidental) resemblance to a miniature lunar module. It was used to measure the charged particles streaming in from the sun.
The solar wind spectrometer experiment was an instrument that bore a striking (but completely coincidental) resemblance to a miniature lunar module. It was used to measure the charged particles streaming in from the sun.Dave Scott—NASA
One of the most dramatic finds on Apollo 15 was the discovery of tiny glass spheres in the soil_mostly green-that were the remains of fiery meteorite impacts. This shadowy shot of Scott was taken just before he and Jim Irwin collected the first samples.
Among the most dramatic finds on Apollo 15 were deposits of tiny glass spheres in the soil—mostly green—that were the remains of fiery meteorite impacts. This shadowy shot of Scott was taken just before he and Jim Irwin collected the first samples. Dave Scott—NASA
One of the most labor-intensive jobs lunar astronauts had was pushing—sometimes hammering—hollow rods in the ground to collect core samples of the moon's subsurface. Here, Scott photographs Irwin inserting core number seven.
One of the most labor-intensive jobs lunar astronauts had was pushing—sometimes hammering—hollow rods in the ground to collect core samples of the moon's subsurface. Here, Scott photographs Irwin inserting core number seven. Dave Scott—NASA
Apollo 15 was the first of three missions to include the lunar rover. Here, Irwin hikes ahead as Scott photographs him. Both footprints and wheel tracks are visible in the soil. They remain today.
Apollo 15 was the first of three missions to include the lunar rover. Here, Irwin hikes ahead as Scott photographs him. Both footprints and wheel tracks are visible in the soil. They remain today. Dave Scott—NASA
Scott rested his sample tongs atop a rock to photograph Irwin near the rover. On the moon's irregular surface, at least one wheel—and sometimes two—were off the ground.
Scott rested his sample tongs atop a rock to photograph Irwin near the rover. On the moon's irregular surface, at least one wheel—and sometimes two—were off the ground.Dave Scott—NASA
Scott and Irwin learned what every photographer knew in the film era: sloppy loading or a light leak could wreck an exposure. Here, the raw sun—utterly unfiltered by atmosphere—had its way with one frame.
Scott and Irwin learned what every photographer knew in the film era: sloppy loading or a light leak could wreck an exposure. Here, the raw sun—utterly unfiltered by atmosphere—had its way with one frame. Dave Scott—NASA
The scientific equipment bay (SEQ Bay) was a storage area in the base of the lunar module where instruments were kept en route to the moon. Irwin photographed the open hatch of the bay, with its deployment tapes—the lanyards used to extract the instruments—dangling everywhere.
The scientific equipment bay (SEQ Bay) was a storage area in the base of the lunar module where instruments were kept en route to the moon. Irwin photographed the open hatch of the bay, with its deployment tapes—the lanyards used to extract the instruments—dangling everywhere.Jim Irwin—NASA
A single frame from a panning shot captures the central station, the lunar seismometer off to its left and the magnetometer in the background.
A single frame from a panning shot captures the central station, the lunar seismometer off to its left and the magnetometer in the background.Jim Irwin—NASA
Scott, in the background, leans to his right to pick up his drill. The solar wind spectrometer is in the foreground.
Scott, in the background, leans to his right to pick up his drill. The solar wind spectrometer is in the foreground.Jim Irwin—NASA
Scott salutes the flag after exiting the LEM and beginning his and Irwin's third trek of their lunar stay. Angled sunlight washes through the red, white and blue.
Scott salutes the flag after exiting the LEM and beginning his and Irwin's third trek of their lunar stay. Angled sunlight washes through the red, white and blue.Jim Irwin—NASA
A microfilm cassette lies in the lunar soil, a discarded—and yet priceless—bit of rubbish. In his book "To Rule the Night,," Irwin wrote, "There were a number of things we left on the Moon purposely. I left some medallions, flat pieces of silver with the fingerprints of Mary [his wife] and our children. And as a result of a letter that I got two months before launch, I also left a small portrait of J. B. Irwin. A young lady sent me a picture of her father, J. B. Irwin, saying that he had talked about his desire to go to the Moon all his life. He died at seventy-five, before the first manned landing. I thought it would be a gracious gesture to take J. B.'s picture and leave it on the Moon." And so it was.
A microfilm cassette lies in the lunar soil, a discarded—and yet priceless—bit of rubbish. In his book "To Rule the Night,," Irwin wrote, "There were a number of things we left on the Moon purposely. I left some medallions, flat pieces of silver with the fingerprints of Mary [his wife] and our children. And as a result of a letter that I got two months before launch, I also left a small portrait of J. B. Irwin. A young lady sent me a picture of her father, J. B. Irwin, saying that he had talked about his desire to go to the Moon all his life. He died at seventy-five, before the first manned landing. I thought it would be a gracious gesture to take J. B.'s picture and leave it on the Moon." And so it was.Jim Irwin—NASA
Dave Scott created a small memorial at the rover's final parking place to honor the astronauts and cosmonauts who had died prior to Apollo 15. The card lists the names. The figurine, Fallen Astronaut, was created by Belgian artist Paul van Hoeydonck. The imprints of Dave's fingers show up next to the figurine.
Dave Scott created a small memorial at the rover's final parking place to honor the astronauts and cosmonauts who had died prior to Apollo 15. The card lists the names. The figurine, Fallen Astronaut, was created by Belgian artist Paul van Hoeydonck. The imprints of Dave's fingers show up next to the figurine.Dave Scott—NASA
Jim Irwin with the lunar module and the ALSEP in the background. The distance the crew traveled from the EM home was considerable—and would have been forbidding if the rover had stalled.
Jim Irwin with the lunar module and the ALSEP in the background. The distance the crew traveled from the EM home was considerable—and would have been forbidding if the rover had stalled.Dave Scott—NASA
A view of the lunar nothingness—what Buzz Aldrin lyrically called "magnificent desolation."
A view of the lunar nothingness—what Buzz Aldrin lyrically called "magnificent desolation."Dave Scott—NASA
The command/service module—which remained in orbit above the moon and was the astronauts' only ride home—had its own open equipment bay, which contained instruments and cameras to study and photograph the moon and its environment.
The command/service module—which remained in orbit above the moon and was the astronauts' only ride home—had its own open equipment bay, which contained instruments and cameras to study and photograph the moon and its environment.NASA
Sea of Ingenuity, Thomson Crater.
From lunar orbit, Thomson Crater in the Sea of Ingenuity.Dave Scott—NASA
From lunar orbit, Montes Agricola.
From lunar orbit, Montes Agricola.NASA
Earth, a pale blue dot, far, far away.
Earth, a pale blue dot, far, far away.Dave Scott—NASA
The lunar surface from a high, non-orbital altitude.
The lunar surface from a high, non-orbital altitude.NASA
The moon from a distance with the terminator—or dividing line between light and darkness—cutting through Tsiolkovsky Crater.
The moon from a distance with the terminator—or dividing line between light and darkness—cutting through Tsiolkovsky Crater.NASA

More Must-Reads From TIME

Write to Jeffrey Kluger at jeffrey.kluger@time.com