News Jeff Bezos finds Apollo 11 F-1 engines on ocean floor

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SPACE.com: Amazon Founder Finds Apollo 11 Moon Rocket Engines On Ocean Floor:

When NASA's mighty Saturn V rocket launched the historic Apollo 11 mission to land the first men on the moon in 1969, the five powerful engines that powered the booster's first stage dropped into the Atlantic Ocean and were lost forever.

Lost, that is, until now.

A private expedition financed by Amazon.com founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos has discovered the five F-1 rocket engines used to launch Apollo 11 into space on July 16, 1969 and is drawing up plans to retrieve one or more so they can be publicly displayed.

"I'm excited to report that, using state-of-the-art deep sea sonar, the team has found the Apollo 11 engines lying 14,000 feet below the surface, and we're making plans to attempt to raise one or more of them from the ocean floor," Bezos wrote in a statement posted to the Bezos Expeditions website. "We don't know yet what condition these engines might be in - they hit the ocean at high velocity and have been in salt water for more than 40 years. On the other hand, they're made of tough stuff, so we'll see."

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"A year or so ago, I started to wonder, with the right team of undersea pros, could we find and potentially recover the F-1 engines that started mankind's mission to the moon?" Bezos wrote.

It was then that Bezos began planning what his website billed as the F-1 Engine Recovery expedition.

If one of the Apollo 11 F-1 engines is ultimately recovered, it will be turned over to NASA, Bezos added.

"Though they've been on the ocean floor for a long time, the engines remain the property of NASA. If we are able to recover one of these F-1 engines that started mankind on its first journey to another heavenly body, I imagine that NASA would decide to make it available to the Smithsonian for all to see.," Bezos wrote. "If we're able to raise more than one engine, I've asked NASA if they would consider making it available to the excellent Museum of Flight here in Seattle."

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Bezos stressed that at no point will public funds be used in the F-1 engine recovery project. The entire effort is a privately-funded expedition, he wrote.

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Bezos Expeditions: F-1 Engine Recovery

collectSPACE: Amazon.com founder finds Apollo 11 moon rocket engines on ocean floor

Florida Today: Amazon founder seeks to recover Apollo 11 rocket engines

Universe Today: Apollo 11′s Rocket Engines Found on the Bottom of the Ocean

Discovery News: Apollo 11's Engines Discovered in the Atlantic

 

[mojoey]

Quick! Buy things from Amazon!
This is awesome...

 

[boogabooga]

How does he know it's specifically Apollo 11? Wouldn't all the Saturn V first stages have landed in roughly the same area?

 

[Andy44]

How does he know it's specifically Apollo 11? Wouldn't all the Saturn V first stages have landed in roughly the same area?

If there was radar tracking it wouldn't be too difficult, and of course if any parts were recovered the serial numbers will tell the tale.

Though they've been on the ocean floor for a long time, the engines remain the property of NASA.

Why? Salvage rights don't apply? And why does an agency that doesn't think recovering this stuff is worth the money and effort get to take from someone who does? (Don't answer; these are rhetorical questions.)

 

[Capt_hensley]

Yeah, I agree, once abandon allways abandon, but would you say the same about a nuclear sub with special weapons? Theres a bunch of those on the ocean floor as well.

It was all property of NASA(US Government) and if they want it, all you can do is dig it up and give it to them, But I think a finders fee is in order. You gotta admit they are a cool piece of history.

 

[FADEC]

More interesting than this would be a visit of one of the landing sites on the moon. Unmanned would be okay as well. A small rover that can drive around and take high resolution pictures to see if and what has changed. Probably nothing but it would be rather interesting though. The images taken by the LRO are not amazing enough if you ask me. I would love to see far more details of it rather than an old rusty engine that is covered in shells and mud.

 

[Codz]

Yeah, I agree, once abandon allways abandon, but would you say the same about a nuclear sub with special weapons? Theres a bunch of those on the ocean floor as well.

It was all property of NASA(US Government) and if they want it, all you can do is dig it up and give it to them, But I think a finders fee is in order. You gotta admit they are a cool piece of history.

Actually a similar situation happened back in the 60's when a B-52 loaded with nuclear weapons crashed in the ocean near Spain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966_Palomares_B-52_crash#Weapons_recovery

 

[Ark]

Yeah, I agree, once abandon allways abandon, but would you say the same about a nuclear sub with special weapons? Theres a bunch of those on the ocean floor as well.

It was all property of NASA(US Government) and if they want it, all you can do is dig it up and give it to them, But I think a finders fee is in order. You gotta admit they are a cool piece of history.

I'm pretty sure all the subs that went down are classified as war graves and therefore illegal to salvage.

As for the engines, though, I would think they fall under typical salvage law after being abandoned for 40+ years. Though in this case, I'm sure the government will find an excuse why a private collector can't scoop up an Apollo 11 engine and keep it for himself.

 

[Codz]

Did you read the article? He said he plans on handing the engine over to NASA when he finds it.

 

[Ark]

I don't see how they could legally be NASA's property after being abandoned, regardless of whether he already planned to give an engine back.

Sure would love to see the sonar pictures...

 

[boogabooga]

Wouldn't the rules be the same as for Liberty Bell 7?

Hint, it isn't owned by NASA...

 

[orb]

collectSPACE: Amazon CEO's moon engine recovery plan piques NASA's, salvage expert's interest:

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"We read Mr. Bezos's blog post with the same excitement as I am sure others have today," Robert Jacobs, NASA's deputy associate administrator for communications, wrote on Wednesday (March 28) in an e-mail to journalists. "We have not had any formal contact with Mr. Bezos about the Apollo engines but we look forward to hearing more from his team and the recovery expedition."

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"The rules regarding NASA property in the ocean are the same as those that govern [federally-owned] sunken ships and other government property, including our hardware on the moon and other celestial bodies," Jacobs said. "As Mr. Bezos points out in his blog, the federal government retains ownership until the property is properly disposed."

"However, we do not see that as any impediment to the recovery efforts of the Apollo engines," Jacobs wrote.

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Bezos did not share what resources his team used to limit their sonar search for the engines, or how they identified their target as originating from Apollo 11, as opposed to the dozen other Saturn V first stages on the ocean floor, outfitted with five engines each.

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[Orbinaut Pete]

I suppose the Moon landing conspiracy theorists will claim that the engines were planted below the ocean by Bezos in exchange for government favours. :lol:

 

[Ghostrider]

We'll take them down there to see by themselves.

And then we'll leave them on the bottom where they will contemplate the abject magnitude of their foolishness, buried alive. Buried alive.

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KHAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

 

[orb]

Spaceflight Now: NASA sees no problem recovering Apollo engines

 

[Artlav]

I suppose the Moon landing conspiracy theorists will claim that the engines were planted below the ocean by Bezos in exchange for government favours. :lol:

I thought most of them agreed that the rockets themselves were indeed launched, whether dummy or not.

 

[orb]

NASA Press Release:
RELEASE : 12-102
NASA Administrator Supports Apollo Engine Recovery

March 30, 2012

The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden regarding the efforts announced this week by Jeff Bezos to recover main engines from the Saturn V first stage rocket of Apollo 11:

“I would like to thank Jeff Bezos for his communication with NASA informing us of his historic find. I salute him and his entire team on this bold venture and wish them all the luck in the world.

“NASA does retain ownership of any artifacts recovered and would likely offer one of the Saturn V F-1 engines to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington under long-standing arrangements with the institution as the holder of the national collection of aerospace artifacts.

“If the Smithsonian declines or if a second engine is recovered, we will work to ensure an engine or other artifacts are available for display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, as Jeff requested in his correspondence with my office. I have directed our staff to begin work to exercise all appropriate authorities to provide a smooth and expeditious disposition of any flight hardware recovered.

“I sincerely hope all continues to go well for Jeff and Blue Origin, and that his team enjoys success and prosperity in every endeavor. All of us at NASA have our fingers crossed for success in his upcoming expedition of exploration and discovery.”

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Florida Today: NASA welcomes effort to recover Apollo 11 engines

 

[Veterok]

I thought most of them agreed that the rockets themselves were indeed launched, whether dummy or not.

This is a bit off-topic, but you reminded me of this sketch.

 

[orb]

Aviation Week: Apollo 11 - to come back from the depths?

collectSPACE: NASA chief salutes 'bold venture' to raise sunken Apollo 11 engines

 

[orb]

Bezos Expeditions: F1 Engine Recovery - Updates:

March 20, 2013

What an incredible adventure. We are right now onboard the Seabed Worker headed back to Cape Canaveral after finishing three weeks at sea, working almost 3 miles below the surface. We found so much. We’ve seen an underwater wonderland – an incredible sculpture garden of twisted F-1 engines that tells the story of a fiery and violent end, one that serves testament to the Apollo program. We photographed many beautiful objects in situ and have now recovered many prime pieces. Each piece we bring on deck conjures for me the thousands of engineers who worked together back then to do what for all time had been thought surely impossible.

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