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Sole NASA camera from moon trip to be auctioned

An Austrian auction house claims it has the only handheld camera that returned to Earth from NASA’s manned lunar landings — and it’s putting it up for auction next month.

Astronaut Jim Irwin used the Hasselblad 500 “EL Data Camera” during the Apollo 15 mission, taking 299 pictures on the moon, the Vienna-based WestLicht says. He took an additional 96 during the flight.

“This historical camera comes with an extensive documentation and photographs taken by Jim Irwin, assembled by its former owner Alain Lazzarini, author of the book ‘Hasselblad and the Moon,’ ” the auction listing says.

The bidding will start at $108,136 when the auction begins on March 22.

The rest of the 13 cameras taken to the moon on Apollo missions were left behind. Astronauts packed their craft with specimens of moon rocks and other elements equal to the weight of the cameras.