US Government sues Apollo 14 astronaut over lunar camera

July 5, 2011 at 7:09 am | Posted in Space Law Current Events | Leave a comment

by Sara M. Langston with the blog faculty

(Reuters) – The U.S. government has sued a former NASA astronaut to recover a camera used to explore the moon’s surface during the 1971 Apollo 14 mission after seeing it slated for sale in a New York auction.

The lawsuit, filed in Miami federal court on Wednesday, accuses Edgar Mitchell of illegally possessing the camera and attempting to sell it for profit.

The government is asking the court to stop Mitchell from selling the camera to anyone, to order its return and to declare that the United States has “good, clean and exclusive title” to the camera. [Full story]