Finding Gene Cernan's Missing Moon Camera

Summary

The mystery of its locationIt’s often repeated how most of the cameras that landed on the moon stayed on the moon. Astronaut Gene Cernan had been telling the story of how he left his camera on the lunar rover for years, recounting the tale in interviews:"I left my Hasselblad camera there with the lens pointing up at the zenith, the idea being someday someone would come back and find out how much deterioration solar cosmic radiation had on the glass. So, going up the ladder, I never took a photo of my last footstep. How dumb! Wouldn’t it have been better to take the camera with me, get the shot, take the film pack off and then (for weight restrictions) throw the camera away?"It’s easy to accept Cernan at his word - he’s an American hero who flew to space three times, twice to the moon - so as far as everyone was concerned, including the press, the camera was right where he said he left it. Plus, a quick scan of the Apollo 17 stowage list reveals no mention of a lunar surface camera splashing down with the command module. So why the 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. No, don’t cue the dramatic music… there’s no mischief or intentional deception here. 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.A tale of three camerasWhen you’re going to the moon, you’re assigned a camera with a 60mm lens that gets strapped to your chest to document samples, experiments, and the lunar terrain. Both astronauts get their own, clearly labeled with a sticker on the side: “CDR” for commander and “LMP” for lunar module pilot, but they weren’t mutually exclusive, often being swapped throughout the mission based on what film they were shooting with. On Apollo 17...