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MOVIE CAMERA FROM THE LUNAR SURFACE. image 1
MOVIE CAMERA FROM THE LUNAR SURFACE. image 2
Lot 207

MOVIE CAMERA FROM THE LUNAR SURFACE.

Withdrawn
5 May 2011, 13:00 EDT
New York

US$60,000 - US$80,000

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MOVIE CAMERA FROM THE LUNAR SURFACE.

Flown Data Acquisition Camera, manufactured by J.A. Maurer Inc., model 308A. Metal body, 6 x 4 x 2 inches. Upper face with lever marked "Mode" for switching frames-per-second rate, including "Time," 1, 6 12 and 24 FPS. Metal label with 4-step operating instructions. Magazine-side with rotating lever marked "Speed" for adjusting shutter speed, ranging from 1/60th to 1/1000th of a second. Bracket-side with label correlating to FPS rate lever position, and channeled bracket attachment; a right-angle bracket is also included, part number "SEB33100277-001," also with part number and serial number for the assembly of "SEB33100277-304" and "1010" respectively. The rear of the camera with magazine release bolt with threaded knob. On the bottom plate, a further label for the FPS rate, and attachments for a power remote, with locking cap on chain. The front plate with label showing part number "SEB 33100100-212" and serial number "1058." Mounted to front plate with bayonet fitting is a "Switar" lens manufactured by Kern of Switzerland: focal length 10 mm, focusing from 8 inches to infinity, with apertures ranging from f1.8 to f22, part number "SEB 33100010-302" and serial number "1024."

One of two 16 mm motion picture "Data Acquisition Cameras" (DACs) carried on the Apollo 14 Lunar Module, Antares.
The DACs could run at frame rates between one and 24 frames per second, and recorded undocking of the spacecrafts, the lunar descent, operations on the surface, and engineering data. The cameras carried film in magazines, each magazine containing 140 feet of film. 15 exposed magazines of 16 mm film returned to Earth on Apollo 14, produced by the two DACs in Antares and one further DAC in the Command Module Kitty Hawk.
The present camera was mounted inside the LM, on a bracket near LMP Edgar Mitchell's window on the right side. 108 hours, 10 minutes, and 30 seconds into the Apollo 14 mission, Edgar Mitchell radioed to Cap Com Fred Haise that "I'm starting the camera," referring to this very camera, which would film the lunar approach for the next five minutes until touchdown. In the technical debrief for Apollo 14, commenting on the near-perfect landing, Mitchell remarked that "The camera was started on schedule and the checklist was followed completely the rest of the way down."
Most Lunar Module DACs were left on the lunar surface due to weight restrictions, and only the film magazines were returned to Earth. The only lunar surface DAC in the Smithsonian Collection is from Apollo 12. It is highly unlikely that another lunar surface camera will appear on the market.

Additional information

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