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Junkyard Owner Saves Lunar Rover Prototype (vice.com)
An anonymous reader writes: On Tuesday, Slashdot users learned that a man in Alabama sold a lunar rover prototype for scrap metal. We now learn that the junkyard owner has saved this important piece of scientific history. The man claims that, upon receiving the prototype at his scrap facility, he set it aside because he knew exactly what it was.
it's OK - they had to wait until Tuesday to collectively mock all the people who live in Alabama. Now that they've realized that a junkyard owner there knows more about space history than they do, they can take the whole day Friday to reflect on how much the experience has caused them to grow as individuals.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Where Rick offered 500 bucks for it, Big Hoss asked whether the moon landing was faked, the old man mentioned the Navy and Chum sat on it.
If you save mountains of crap you will find 0.12% of it useful. Someday...
It certainly looks odd and something you might want to identify before you put it in the garbage smasher.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
Not at all, those of us who were alive at the time who watched the rover on televison would recognize the frame instantly, just as we would recognize the ascent and descent stages of prototype Lunar Module either together or seperately. You must be young.
You would instantly recognize this? You really must be a space nerd... I feel definitely above the overall average when it comes to knowledge space tech in general, and I definitely wouldn't recognize most of the multitude of planetary rover prototypes from the 60s.
Ezekiel 23:20
Seriously, this news made my day much nicer.
"The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
Have gnu, will travel.
According to the article NASA knew exactly where it was, that it was not destroyed and had even come to inspect it.
"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 von Braun, the first and last they made. I was told it is the rarest of all the units."
So what's the deal?
Did he kept The Vulture from being scrapped?!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvage_1
Everyone was a space nerd. That's a VERY famous photo from 1967 with Von Braun. He did documentaries on TV in the late 60s of moon program and space travel.
Not at all, those of us who were alive at the time who watched the rover on televison would recognize the frame instantly, just as we would recognize the ascent and descent stages of prototype Lunar Module either together or seperately. You must be young.
Except that it does not look anything like the actual lunar rovers which were sent to the moon, because this was only a prototype for testing various components...
whooooosshh. You must be from Mississippi.
That being exactly his point.
"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
The Junk dealers is ALWAYS going to know how much it's really worth (and if he's not sure he'll put it aside until he does know) and I highly doubt he's going to voluntarily hand it over without receiving a check for how much it's worth.
One of the prime profit opportunities in the junk business is to receive items that aren't junk. Dealers are always on the lookout for special non-junk items they can make a bundle on because some ignorant dumbass sold it to them for a few cents a pound. It's not that much different than the pawn business where they are always on the lookout for antiques and other items they know are worth far more than the owner believes.
When I heard this story I was at first incredulus that the guy didn't walk across the street and tell the neighbor what it was. Then I realized that the chances the Junk dealer wouldn't put it aside and determine the worth before melting it down was near zero. Then I realized the guy that didn't walk across the street basically screwed over the neighbor by not telling him how much it was worth with the side realization that he may have cut a side deal with the junk dealer by tipping him off.
I was born in 1964 and that's the first time I've seen that photo. Maybe it's not quite as famous as you think. Still, no sane junk dealer is going to immediately scrap something he just bought if it looks even a little bit interesting.
More like:
Junk Yard: You can have it for $FAIRLY_LARGE_SUM, or I'll sell it to the highest bidder. But out of deference, I'm willing to give you first access without bidding.
NASA: Give it to us for free, or we will use legal acton (which is why junkyard owner brought in lawyers and kept silent).
NASA probably lied to try and cast doubt on the authenticity of what he had to reduce the selling price so they could get it cheaper. Far more believable than your absurd fantasy of the junk yard owner threatening to melt down a priceless artifact.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
you were 2 or 3 years old when that photo was taken. would you recognize a photo of LBJ?
Except back then in Alabama everybody knew about it. We kept track of everything space related, even prototypes. Von Braun lived in Alabama!!!! Huntsville was the very heart of the space program. Still is! We're pretty well-informed down here.
I was born in 1953, grew up about 16 miles from the junkyard (60 miles from Huntsville), and I would have recognized the damned thing. I'd recognize nearly anything related to the space program from that era. Most everybody I know would.
The wheels in the two photos are identical, apparently you can't count very well. Either than or you are unable to recognize the difference between light cast onto cross-beams on the back of the wheels from the holes themselves...
The cross-beams on the wheels you can't see well (only back-right wheel) in the current-day picture, but it's still pretty obvious in the original photo what is going on light-wise.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
One of my favorite TV shows is Rocket City Rednecks. Changed my opinions (just a little bit!) about people from Alabama. :)
Weren't you recently complaining in another thread about people posting sexist/racist comments?
If you're going to go around making bigoted and stereotypical remarks yourself, perhaps you shouldn't whine when other people do it.
Yes.
Pretty well everyone back in the day who read newspapers would fit that broad description of space nerd.
Von Braun sitting in it is a dead give-away. ;)
Granted, without him, without the NASA logo on the box on top, and without the dish antenna it might be a little harder to recognize. (Partly due to its simplicity. Many of the rover prototypes back then were more complex and instantly recognizable, especially the six-wheeled or pressurized ones.)
-- Alastair
It's okay. He's a progressive. We he makes a questionable remark, it's demonstrating his broad range of knowledge. When others do it, it's demonstrating their small-mindedness.
Not to mention it's been obvious for a while now he's a troll.
Did I post a sexist/racist comment? Last time I looked, there were people of all races and sexes in Alabama. And most of them are related by blood.
You are welcome on my lawn.
...but I don't believe it.
I've always wondered. If a couple in Alabama get a divorce, are they still brother and sister?
Cue the obligatory toothbrush joke.
There's a lot more historical leaders of men then there are moon rovers.
Right, in redneck territory a junkyard owner is a successful business person, the local ruling class in fact. And wise to worldly ways, educated in metallurgical topics. Probably subscribes to Scientific American or Popular Science. Of course he knew what it was. Even a typical idiot would know what it was, especially near a space program facility.
No, but would you care to explain what type of humor it *was*?
It really destroys Progressive thought when it claims to be tolerant and openminded and then non-ironically makes dated, stereotype-based hate posts.
And if you're going to criticize Alabama, it has one of the highest rates of black people in the nation, so you're a racist as well.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
Look at the canopy arch. the one in the photo is very different from the one in the junkyard.
This is only true when the people working the counter or the scales or other forms of receiving have a financial stake in the company. When they do, they're willing to bend company procedures. Sometimes it's because they know something is actually worth more than its scrap value or because it has real sentimental value and should be preserved rather than junked, and sometimes it's because the owner or partner actually has a heart and is willing to take less than the completely-parted-out value for something in order to sell it whole to someone that wants the whole thing.
My experience is mostly with automotive wrecking yards. The big recyclers aren't much fun to deal with, the staff doesn't care and just goes through the motions. The small private wrecking yards usually have the owner right there in the office, and sometimes one can buy whole cars with title for much less than he'd get if he's willing to sit on it for a couple of years to part it out, as he likes cars too and actually does restore them and values others that do the same.
Unfortunately there are less and less owner-operator types anymore.
As for this particular man, I don't have a problem with him making some real money selling the rover back to NASA or some other government agency. He's arguably the first person to care about it for quite some time, and it's not his problem that NASA and the other intermediate owners didn't value it at the time as much as he does now. If I were in his shoes I'd be tempted to restore it myself, just to be able to claim that I did, if no one was willing to come to a price I was willing to agree to.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Well they didn't need to mock them anyways. It's already been done:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Clearly the guy who sold it to the junk yard didn't know what it was. I was born in 64, and was very interested in the space program. I even built model rockets including a Saturn V. I would not have recognized that at all. However, it's certainly unusual and looks like a one-off kind of thing.
Since the space program had a major presence there I can see a savvy junk dealer coming to the conclusion that it at least might be something that came from NASA and contacting them.
Visited a recycling center over the summer as part of my job, while I was there they found that someone had dropped off one of the red rolling toolchests. Worth about a grand. Nothing wrong with it except it smelled. They rolled it into their shop to use for themselves.
Are you implying that the internet has people who reflect, grow, and learn from their own mistakes? Besides, Friday is the day we rant about social justice folks. I don't think we'll have time for introspection and personal growth. We've got howler monkey screeching and poop flinging to do, ain't nobody got time for self-improvement on Fridays.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
I'd have been ten when the picture was taken (probably, technically, nine) and I recognize it. I'd also recognize LBJ. I don't know how tall he was but he always looked like a big man in the film footage. Anyhow, it's got a big fucking NASA logo on it and it's in Alabama. Of course you don't smelt it down instantly. Junk yard owners are not dumb, I'm not sure where that stereotype comes from. I think I might recognize it but I have the benefit of now knowing about it so I can't really say.
Actually, I just clicked the link and looked at the picture. I figured I should, before hitting submit. (Don't worry, I didn't read the article.) No, no I'd have not recognized that. Not at all. I'd have been curious and found out what it was, however. That it has specialized tires means that I'd be awfully curious. I'd have also been curious because of the wheels, they're definitely not typical. I doubt I'd have smelted it down until after I knew what it was.
After looking at it, I'm not sure they should be called heroic or if it's really all that valuable as a historic relic. I guess that is for others to decide. I'm not sure that I'm qualified to opine.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
Yeah, I recognize the photo the GP linked to. I then checked the article (just to see if it had a pic, nary a whole sentence was read - I'm no heretic) and there's no way in hell that I'd have recognized that. I'd have kept it until I did know what it was, however. The wheels and tires are too specific to be ordinary junk. They're simply not typical designs on any type of vehicle that I'm familiar with of that age, of today, or at any time in history. They're similar to some but not so similar as to be ordinary. I'd want to know what the hell it was before smelting it down.
As said above, after seeing the image, I'm not exactly sure that it's worth keeping. There are far more interesting things that can be and are displayed. It may hold some value to someone, however. I'm just not sure that it has any historic value outside of a small group of people and, even then, I'm not sure how high they'd prioritize that value. Meh, I'll give him $1000 for it. $1500 if he ships it to my house in Maine.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
Last night I bought a Baen EBook: Terry Bisson - Numbers Don't Lie.
The book consists of three stories, one of them is about a "Hole in the Hole", a Brooklyn junkyard which uses a spacetime rift connecting the junkyard to the Moon in order to get rid of old tires. Our protagonists tries to use said rift to retrieve one of the three Apollo Moon buggies that were left behind.
Terje
"almost all programming can be viewed as an exercise in caching"
It looked like a crappy old go-cart to me. I would have crushed it in an instant.
At least some recycling center people are smart enough to figure out when they have something that has a value beyond the scrap value on their hands.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
"Von Braun sitting in it is a dead give-away. ;)"
I had to zoom it, because I thought for a moment that it was Donald Trump.
Considering that junkyards today are pretty detailed about separation of items depending on metal type and sometimes even alloys they need to identify what they are working with to put stuff in the right bucket. Unusual devices requires extra consideration not only from the perspective of metals but also from hazardous material.
Junkyards are no longer a local hobo operation but actually pretty detailed in what they do - and regulated. So if stuff ends up from someone that do have some unusual labeling like NASA or so then they will at least take a second look. They usually want to make sure that they avoid the Cobalt-60 incident from December 1983 in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico and similar.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
I am sure this happens in other types of recycling centers as well.. In our office, we are constantly going through PC, rack servers, monitors, etc. Some of it only a few years old. While there might be value in getting money for them, it is actually a great thing that there are companies that will come in and take them away for free. Sure they have value, but the labor involved in recouping those costs are just not worth it at our pay scales. In addition, shelf space in our office has value too.
"A 'person' is smart. 'People' are dumb, panicky animals and you know that."
You do realise that digs at people who are not being actively repressed by great swathes of society or the institutions that govern them is somewhat different to digs at people who are?
You don't seem to understand what "hate" and "racist" mean, apparently. That would explain why you just vomited your ignorance all over slashdot for the world to see. And not for the first time :)
Dude, you're not suppose to drink the bong water....
I love my recycling/hazardous waste disposal center. They will let you take something from the yard equipment or household chemical section if you want it. I always take a look through the chemical section as I have found unopened cans of the deck stain I use, almost full gallons of various solvents, all sorts of perfectly good wood finishes. I haven't bought solvent in years because I find so much of it.
Time to offend someone
This "rover" is a replica knocked together from junk the owner had in the junkyard when this story hit the wire.
The "original" "rover" may or may not have been melted down, sold to the Chinese or some pets.com mogul or turned into a bitchin' electric dunebuggy.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Because this JUNKYARD owner doesn't have a REALITY TV SHOW -- and everyone knows that all Junkyard Owners have reality TV shows!
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
So does he give it back to NASA as a gift and gain the good will of the world, or does he try and squeeze them for as much money as humanly possible? I know which I hope for and I am nearly positive that it won't be the one he chooses.
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
Yes because when one person makes an off color joke, it means that everyone with a similar political view is tainted. Hard to call out people on stereotyping by doing it yourself.
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
When you can find people in the US who are repressed, then we might have a conversation about it.
Currently, the only repression happening is the people repressing themselves, at least in the US, I don't live in another country, so I can't speak for how it is there.
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
http://motherboard.vice.com/re...
I don't know, it looks pretty rough. The first picture in TFA is from the junk dealer of the actual rover, I can tell from comparing pictures that they are the same design, but beyond that, I likely wouldn't know what the hell it is. This is good reason for the junk dealer to set it aside to try and figure it out though.
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
Nothing could be further from the truth. I frequent a local scrapyard (electronic/industrial, not car) and in their mind, everything they get is just being shredder and recycled. I come in sometimes, buy stuff, and sell it on eBay/craigslist. I've bought thousands and thousands of dollars worth of computers, LCD monitors, etc, literally for a few cents a pound.
The amount of stuff (LCD monitors and TVs in particular) I've seen there that almost certainly worked when they got it, but they literally just threw it into a bin and cracked the screen, is insane.
There was never an indication that they were the exact same iterations. There were many rover prototypes, not just the one.
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
I grew up making plastic models of all things Apollo. I would not have known "exactly" what it was. However, if there were lots of one-off, precision machined components, made out of unusual alloys, AND I lived near a NASA facility, then I would have at least had my suspicions and looked into it.
Yeah, I recognized the picture - I did not recognize the picture of the junk. Well, I don't think I'd have recognized it. It would have been curious enough to set aside and find out what it is, however. The wheels, especially, would have piqued my interest.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
My sentiments exactly. Sure, I know the picture. That was everywhere. The one in the junk yard? I honestly don't think I'd have recognized that. It'd be nice to claim I would but I don't think I would have. I'd have recognized that it was unique and, from the looks of things, fairly well made. The wheels, especially those, would have made me think that it should be held on to until I found out exactly what it was.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
I sense some repression on your part. Am i allowed to say that?
The new right fascists are bilingual. They speak English and Bullshit.
A lot of valuable test equipment gets junked this way. On the other hand, if one is vigilant and has the opportunity, it can sometimes be saved and restored providing features which would cost 20 times the price new or even higher.
Test equipment produced starting in the early 1990s is largely unrepairable though so this is a diminishing activity.
The thing I find really annoying is when they cut probe cables or separate probes from their test instruments. Then the equipment often does become junk at any price.
I was at the scrap yard a couple months ago selling some old auto parts, (I got $3 for my old brake rotors) and most of it was pickups full of mixed metal, which gets piled as steel, aluminum, copper. They just weigh the truck before and after. And then they "sort" it in detail with a backhoe.
Something like this is going to get set aside at the start, unless it is in somebody's truck of scrap and they prop it up onto the pile. Then it might indeed get sorted by the backhoe into the car squash pile.
The reason they wouldn't have a Cobalt-60 accident is that they don't allow whole metal drums. You're going to have to get a torch and cut those drums in half before you can scrap them. Otherwise, yeah, there is probably all sorts of toxic crap mixed in there.
most leaders of men lead the way in killing or maiming people, or taking their property or raping their women