Author Topic: Apollo 11 SIC found?  (Read 26811 times)

Offline scooter

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Apollo 11 SIC found?
« on: March 28, 2012, 03:29:41 PM »
Saw that Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com's bazillionaire owner, has found the SIC that boosted Apollo 11 on it's way, in about 14000 ft of water. Wants to bring one or more of the engines up, if their condition allows.

If nothing else, it would put a final nail in Mt Kaysing's "dumped in the South Atlantic" mantra (or so one would think...).

Offline Glom

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Re: Apollo 11 SIC found?
« Reply #1 on: March 28, 2012, 04:01:37 PM »
It survived!

Offline raven

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Re: Apollo 11 SIC found?
« Reply #2 on: March 28, 2012, 05:05:58 PM »
Some pictures would be nice.

Offline Nowhere Man

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Re: Apollo 11 SIC found?
« Reply #3 on: March 28, 2012, 06:39:18 PM »
Quote from: Bezos
If we are able to recover one of these F-1 engines that started mankind on its first journey to another heavenly body,
Nitpick:  Doesn't he mean third journey?

Fred
Hey, you!  "It's" with an apostrophe means "it is" or "it has."  "Its" without an apostrophe means "belongs to it."

"For shame, gentlemen, pack your evidence a little better against another time."
-- John Dryden, "The Vindication of The Duke of Guise" 1684

Offline raven

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Re: Apollo 11 SIC found?
« Reply #4 on: March 28, 2012, 07:29:27 PM »
Well, do you define 'journey' as landing or orbit?
It could be nitted either way.

Offline carpediem

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Re: Apollo 11 SIC found?
« Reply #5 on: March 29, 2012, 01:49:06 AM »
Saw that Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com's bazillionaire owner, has found the SIC that boosted Apollo 11 on it's way, in about 14000 ft of water. Wants to bring one or more of the engines up, if their condition allows.

If nothing else, it would put a final nail in Mt Kaysing's "dumped in the South Atlantic" mantra (or so one would think...).
How does he know that it is Apollo 11's, couldn't it easily be from another mission?

Offline Glom

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Re: Apollo 11 SIC found?
« Reply #6 on: March 29, 2012, 02:54:49 AM »
I admire his bazillionairishness. If we could make a rocket engine that can be sold on amazon for £13.99, we could be bazillionaires too.

Offline gwiz

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Re: Apollo 11 SIC found?
« Reply #7 on: March 29, 2012, 04:53:10 AM »
If nothing else, it would put a final nail in Mt Kaysing's "dumped in the South Atlantic" mantra (or so one would think...).
It also rather undermines Pokrovsky's claims about low performance.
Multiple exclamation marks are a sure sign of a diseased mind - Terry Pratchett
...the ascent module ... took off like a rocket - Moon Man

Offline ka9q

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Re: Apollo 11 SIC found?
« Reply #8 on: March 29, 2012, 05:17:52 AM »
If nothing else, it would put a final nail in Mt Kaysing's "dumped in the South Atlantic" mantra (or so one would think...).
It also rather undermines Pokrovsky's claims about low performance.
Well, it didn't make it into space, now did it?

Lots of rockets blow up and land in the ocean as failures. This rocket landed in the ocean. Therefore it too must have blown up and failed. :-)


Offline Bob B.

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Re: Apollo 11 SIC found?
« Reply #9 on: March 29, 2012, 09:30:49 AM »
How does he know that it is Apollo 11's, couldn't it easily be from another mission?

The impact sites are known...

http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_18-22_Saturn_Stage_Earth_Impact.htm

It looks like the closest to the Apollo 11 site is Apollo 13, which impacted about 4.5 km to the southwest.  Hopefully that's far enough away to prevent misidentification.


Offline Echnaton

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Re: Apollo 11 SIC found?
« Reply #11 on: March 29, 2012, 07:05:33 PM »
This raises the question of whether the US government will claim ownership to the spent rocket and block his effort?  Or perhaps they will claim ownership and cooperate with his recovery.
The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new. —Samuel Beckett

Offline grmcdorman

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Re: Apollo 11 SIC found?
« Reply #12 on: March 29, 2012, 08:39:11 PM »
If you read the articles, it's explicitly said that the artifacts are NASA property. Bezos is in talks with NASA, apparently. He's hoping that, if recovered, an engine will be displayed in the Smithsonian.

Offline JayUtah

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Re: Apollo 11 SIC found?
« Reply #13 on: March 30, 2012, 11:48:33 AM »
You'd have a hard time depriving NASA of a proprietary claim under maritime law.  The S-1C and its equipment would likely be considered jetsam (the only ambiguity being the purpose for its jettison) and therefore remain the property of its original owner.  Proprietary claims are amplified when the owner is a sovereign nation, as opposed to a nationally-flagged private owner.

A salvor has the right to compensation for risking life and property in the salvage, but he is not automatically the owner of the salvaged property.  Personally if I had a kajillion dollars and wanted to drag an F-1 up from the bottom of the ocean, I'd want to see it displayed prominently somewhere.  It wouldn't do any good for it to sit in my living room.
"Facts are stubborn things." --John Adams

Offline Tedward

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Re: Apollo 11 SIC found?
« Reply #14 on: March 30, 2012, 12:52:00 PM »
Well, you see tables made out of engine blocks. Bit of glass across the top and Bob's your mother brother.

Need long arms though to reach the coffee cups.