More NASA History Destroyed in Alabama (Update)
Heroic Junkyard Owner Says He Saved Priceless Moon Rover From Scrap Heap, Motherboard
“Tuesday, we told the sad story of a prototype NASA lunar rover that was sold by an Alabaman to a scrap yard. That is true, but there’s a twist: A heroic scrap dealer has saved the buggy, which appears to be in good condition.”
Someone in Alabama Sold a Priceless Lunar Rover for Scrap Metal, Motherboard
“According to documents acquired by Motherboard as part of a Freedom of Information Act request, a priceless lunar rover prototype designed for the Apollo missions was sold to a junkyard in Alabama for scrap metal sometime last year. Specific names and details are redacted in the documents, which include internal emails and reports by NASA’s Office of the Inspector General, the agency responsible for investigating and recovering lost and stolen NASA property.”
– Skylab Is Still Rotting in Huntsville, earlier post
– JSC Is Letting a X-38 Rot In The Rain, earlier post
That happens all the time here. Thieves steal electrical wires leaving ballparks dark. Anything metal is fair game.
just because it was sold to a scrap yard doesn’t mean it was scrapped…. 😉
Bingo. It seems that it may still be out there:
http://motherboard.vice.com…
Motherboard vice.com quote NASA knew it was still available. In my mind, they tried to play a
trickery game. They wanted me to loan it to them, but I think they just
wanted to get it into their possession. They offered me [perks], they
offered me everything but cash,” the junkyard owner said. “NASA told me
when they came out to inspect it that they had looked for it for 25
years. It is the Wernher Von Braun, the first and last they made. I was told it
is the rarest of all the units. Why Doesn’t NASA just buy the Rover from the junkyard Owner be whole lot easy than wasting time playing mind trick games on the junkyard Owner.
I suspect because the paperwork would be complicated. NASA doesn’t have a big pot of money it can spend however it wants – it would have to come up with some justification to purchase what is essentially memorabilia at this point, which would have to be tied to some sort of mission mandate, etc. I can imagine this somehow falling under education and public outreach, but you would also need to identify a center for it to go to, fund restoration and upkeep, etc. I can easily see most managers passing on it.
I think NASA should never play mind game to the Junkyard Owner to get Moon Rover for free. Alternative solution to use Private Foundation like Space Museum to purchase the Moon Rover restore it Original condition since NASA won’t buy it open to the general public display and make money from it.