Should a Hasselblad be Black or Silver?

[Bob Michaels]

it should be gold plated, but I can tell you where to get a blad for free - you have to pick it up yourself though

there's a few that have just been sitting around for a few years right near the sea of tranquility

Blake since no one else picked up on your comment, I will.

Yep, there is a silver 500 EL intentionally left on the moon's surface by Neil Armstrong. I used to hear stories about a Hassy being lost in earth orbit during an EVA but that one may have been an urban legend. The one Armstrong left on the moon is clearly documented.

 

[Bob Michaels]

Totally 12 Hasselblad Moon Cameras were left behind on the moon surface in completing the different missions during 1969 - 1972, in order to balance the weight of precious samples collected from moon surface.

Blake, you could be totally correct. I could only find official NASA documentation about the one Armstrong left behind. But your comment about balancing weight from the lunar samples makes sense.

BTW, I watched this launch as I did most of those preceding it (back to the Mercury launches) as well as most of those subsequently (including tonight's Shuttle launch).

I do believe all the NASA Hassleblad's were silver. That was for the practical reasons.

I wonder if each astronaut got their own Hassy. I do know that every astronaut up through that time got their own Corvette. It was standard practice that as soon as they arrived at the Cape, they went up to Jim Rathman Chevrolet in Melbourne to pick up their new Corvette. Whenever you ever saw an astronaut around town, they were always driving a Corvette. Good PR for GM.

 

[Rogrund]

Adding to the trivia (crap?): the man who designed the 1600F and later Hasselblads, Sixten Sason, also designed several SAAB models (e. g. the 92 and 99), chain saws for Husqvarna, vacuum cleaners for Electrolux and the famous Silverpilen (Silver Arrow) motor bike for Husqvarna...

 

[pvdhaar]

I think a Hasselblad should be black.. All black, as in Carbon black. And it should have a slosh of liquid nitrogen inside causing impressive puffs of steam to emanate from the seams. You'd have to wear gloves to even hold it in your hands, let alone use it..

All in all, I think it should look like something only Batman would use..

 

[shadowfox]

I like mine in chrome, beat-up but fully-functional, with a custom crank (because the original one fell-off) 😀

The story about this one for your amusement here.