U.S. sues astronaut over space camera

PALM BEACH, Fla., Oct. 5 (UPI) -- A federal judge in Florida has refused Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell's request to dismiss a lawsuit that seeks the return of a space camera.

The 80-year-old Mitchell got slapped with the government suit after he tried to sell a data acquisition camera he brought back from the moon in 1971 for $80,000, The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post reported.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Hurley rejected Mitchell's argument that the government waited too long to get the camera back and that the camera was a gift.

"It is well settled that the United States is not bound by (four-year) state statutes of limitations," Hurley wrote in a ruling Monday.

He also said Mitchell would have to prove that the camera was a gift.