Most of the cameras that have been on the Moon have reportedly stayed there. So, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll find one here on Earth. Or is it? Photographer and space camera maker Cole Rise managed to find Gene Cernan’s missing camera from Apollo 17. And no, he didn’t have to fly to the Moon to get it – it has been in a museum in Switzerland.
Cole published a great article about his search for Gene Cernan’s missing Moon camera. It took him quite a lot of detective work not only to track it down, but to figure out that it indeed returned to Earth. Although Cernan had been saying that he left his camera on the lunar rover, the truth is wrapped with a veil of mystery.
“Looking closer, there’s a sprinkling of evidence in photos and transcripts that suggest his camera did in fact return to earth, contradicting both the 1972 NASA inventory and the astronaut,” Cole writes in his article. However, there’s no mischief or intentional deception here, he adds. “I believe Gene Cernan did leave a camera on the lunar rover, just not “his.” Memory can be a fickle thing, even for heroes, and that rings especially true in this case when the story involves not one camera, but three.” The thing is, there were three different cameras on the Apollo 17 mission. Each astronaut was assigned his camera with a 60mm lens. They would use them to document samples, experiments, and the lunar terrain, and they would be labeled “CDR” for commander and “LMP” for the lunar module pilot. Although each astronaut had their own camera, they would often swap them. “On Apollo 17, Jack Schmitt – LMP and geologist extraordinaire – was set up with the black & white film. When he needed color, he’d grab Cernan’s camera and vice versa,” Cole explains. Cole dug out deep to find out what happened to the cameras from the Apollo 17 mission. He analyzed the Apollo 17 LM Lunar Launch Stowage List, but noticed some discrepancies. Listening to the transcripts led him even further. He figured out that Cernan’s camera flew back to Earth after all! Finally, Cole went through the photos captured on Apollo 17. From their Réseau plate, he could see that Cernan’s CDR camera was labeled S/N 1023, and Schmitt’s LMP camera was S/N 1032. But this is where he got stuck – at least until 29 February this year.
A post shared by ????? ??????????? (@nietlisbach) “Marco is Head of Professional Services at Light & Byte, a Zürich-based photo equipment supply shop. Its located very close to Omega, which produced most of the Apollo moon watches. So, Marco had a unique and rare opportunity to take photos of “a real moon camera,” on loan to the Omega Museum from NASA, as Cole explains. “Whether the camera was flown or not wasn’t known by photographer or museum curator,” Cole adds. Marco kindly sent Cole high-resolution photos of the cameras he photographed at the omega museum. And from here, Cole did some more digging and thinking. As he was able to get a closer look at the camera, he could also see the part and serial numbers: P/N SEB 33100040-307, S/N 1023. Yes, it looks like Gene Cernan’s Moon camera is here on Earth after all! It’s safe and sound at the Omega Museum in Switzerland. Needless to say how exciting Cole was to discover this. I mean, I was excited even while reading about it. After his discovery, Cole reached out to NASA to confirm what documentation they have on the artifact. He hasn’t heard back yet, but he’ll update his article if he does and I’m looking forward to hearing more about this story. No. Expletive. Way. Not 5 minutes into looking, there it was. Could this really be Gene… Cernan’s… camera?” You can read more of Cole’s articles on his website Space Camera Co., and check out his work on website, Instagram, and Twitter.
