The Apollo program is one of the most important space programs in the history of spaceflight and memorabilia from any of the Apollo missions are highly sought after. In what could be considered as a space collector's dream come true, a camera used in the Apollo 15 mission will now be auctioned off in Austria.
The camera in question is a 70-milimeter Hasselblad Electric Data Camera or EDC. The camera was used in the Apollo 15 mission to the moon, the ninth moon mission in the Apollo program. This specific camera was said to have been held and used by James Irwin, the Lunar Module pilot of the mission. Given the fact that the camera registration plate indicates the number "38," the people behind the auction believe that this was indeed the camera used by the eight man on the moon.
The camera will be auctioned off at the Westlicht gallery in Vienna, Austria. According to the gallery representatives, the camera is currently valued at around $200,000 to $270,000. An Italian collector who has commissioned the gallery to auction off the valuable camera currently owns the camera.
NASA is said to have used a total of 14 cameras in moon missions between 1969 and 1972. However, most of these cameras were left on the moon and only one has been reported to have made it back to Earth intact. Since early cameras weighed significantly more than today's cameras, astronauts often left them behind after retrieving the film. This was done to allow the astronauts to take back more moon samples in place of the cameras. However, an incident involving what could have been a jammed camera forced astronauts to take one camera back for fear of losing the film inside.
The Westlicht gallery in Austria is known for camera auctions. Moreover, the gallery has also been the venue for some of the most expensive camera equipment auctions in the history of photography. They are also known for auctioning off the most expensive camera in the world, a rare prototype Leica camera. The auction for the Hasselblad camera is scheduled to take place on March 21.
