Yeah, you landed on the Moon, but where's your paperwork?!

August 3, 2015 8:40 AM

The second man on the Moon, Buzz Aldrin, recently shared his expense reports and other travel documents from his road trip with Neil and Mike.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (13 comments total)

Bureaucracy is the greatest thing. Why does it get such a bad rap?
posted by Think_Long at 8:44 AM on August 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

For those who'd like to play at home, here's the current SF1012 form.
posted by klarck at 8:49 AM on August 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

I can't quite read his handwriting - what is the item he's claiming an expense on?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:49 AM on August 3, 2015

You have to keep in mind that a lot of this was done to deliberately create unique keepsakes -- there's a reason Neil Armstrong's signature on this doc is big and done with a flourish. There's not some mindless drone somewhere that really, really wants a customs form for moon rocks because paperwork is their life.

The Apollo 15 crew ran afoul of the desire to create keepsakes like these.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:51 AM on August 3, 2015

How did I know without even looking that this would be a Brandon Blatcher post? :)
posted by Nevin at 8:52 AM on August 3, 2015

TO BE DETERMINED, indeed.
posted by Slothrup at 8:53 AM on August 3, 2015

Second man on the moon? If memory serves me Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the moon at exactly the same time.

That customs declaration was signed by Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins! The fact that it was filled in using a typewriter suggets they didn't get if from the flight attendant before landing.
posted by three blind mice at 8:53 AM on August 3, 2015

The Apollo 15 crew ran afoul of the desire to create keepsakes like these.

FULL REPORT.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:01 AM on August 3, 2015

From the first link:

Did you know I took the first space selfie during Gemini 12 mission in 1966? BEST SELFIE EVER

I find it delightful that a guy born during the Hoover administration understands perfectly what a selfie is while reporters sixty years his junior are still kind of fuzzy on the concept.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:01 AM on August 3, 2015 [9 favorites]

My favourite bit of Apollo paperwork is the invoice Grumman sent to Rockwell for use of the LEM in towing the crippled Apollo 13 command module back from the Moon.
posted by Devonian at 9:18 AM on August 3, 2015 [8 favorites]

"I've got my paperwork for ya, it's right here in my pocket!"

*punches conspiracy nut in the face*
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 9:21 AM on August 3, 2015

Since the "naut" in "Astronaut" means Sailor, does that make Buzz Aldrin "Sailor Moon"?
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:30 PM on August 3, 2015

yep.

I have made the sadly unprovable claim that I started the "Neil Before Zod" meme, noting that Armstrong's landing was several years before Zod dropped in there in the Superman movies... but my wendell watermark on that photoshop was removed before it got really viral so it's my word against others... anyway, the meme has spread to include other Neils: Gaiman, Patrick Harris, deGrasse Tyson, Diamond, and others.
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:19 PM on August 3, 2015