The 1971 mission was the very first that explored the Hadley Rille channel and the Apennine mountain range, located near the Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains). The Zeiss played a huge part in capturing much of the photographic evidence from this trip, ultimately helping to take some 293 photographs. And now, you can document some of your own most important moments with the lens, too.
Well, maybe not. The lens, which was quite advanced for its time, got a whole lot of use during the mission, which means that it’s not exactly in mint condition anymore. Scott took a tumble at one point (while holding the camera and lens), which means that there remain moon dust particles on some lengths of tape.
Still, if you do manage to snag this piece, you’ll be only the second owner ever (well, third, if you count NASA). “After our three days on the Moon, [the lens] was returned to the Command Module in lunar orbit where it was used for two more days to photograph the surface of the Moon,” Scott writes in a letter that is included in the sale. “After the mission, I received the lens from NASA as a memento of the mission and it has been in my personal collection since that time.”
So get excited to start bidding! But be prepared to spend somewhere between $400,000 and $600,000.
