They (well, Buzz Aldrin, at least) also filled out a travel expense voucher to get reimbursed for driving his personal car, including from his home to the air force base from which he flew to Florida, as well as around Cape Kennedy, during his “official travel.”
His official itinerary is more detailed than the one provided on the customs form (all dates are, of course, in July of 1969):
7-7 | LV: Residence | 0445 | POV(note: POV means “Privately Owned Vehicle.” Aldrin reported 8 miles for this leg of the journey and was reimbursed 56¢.)
7-7 | AR: EAFB | 0500(note: EAFB is “Ellington Air Force Base” in Houston)
7-7 | LV: EAFB | 0530 | Gov. Air
7-7 | AR: Cape Kennedy, Fla. | 0800
7-16 | LV: Cape Kennedy, Fla. | 0832 | Gov. Spacecraft(note: Saturn V serial number SA-506, of course)
7-19 | AR: Moon | 1325
7-21 | LV: Moon | 2400 | Gov. Spacecraft(note: transfer from NASA LM-5 Eagle to NASA CSM-107 Columbia not listed)
7-24 | AR: Pacific Ocean | 0600(note: at 13°19′N 169°9′W in the North Pacific, about 920 miles or 1480 km from Honolulu)
7-24 | LV: Pacific Ocean | 0800 | USN Hornett(note: Aldrin misspelled the name of the US navy aircraft carrier Hornet here.)
7-26 | AR: Hawaii | 0900(note: Pearl Harbor, to be specific)
7-26 | LV: Hawaii | 1200 | USAF Plane(note: the particular plane was a C-141B Starlifter designated 66-7958 USAF, which I cannot find a name for.)
7-27 | AR: EAFB | 0100
7-27 | LV: EAFB | 0215 | Gov. Veh.(note: the Gov. Veh. in question was the Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF), a converted Airstream trailer. They would stay in the MQF for three weeks. Actually, they boarded the MQF on the Hornet ; it was then loaded into 66-7958 in Hawaii and unloaded in Houston.)
7-27 | AR: LRL | 0300(note: LRL is the Lunar Receiving Laboratory, building 37 at Johnson Space Center in Houston.)
A notation beneath this itinerary reads “Government meals and quarters furnished for all the above dates.”
Aldrin also reported 100 miles of “official vicinity travel” at Cape Kennedy for the nine days between his arrival and departure, for which he was reimbursed $10. Another note reads “POV authorized for official vicinity travel at Cape Kennedy, Fla. in leiu (sic) of rental car.” I can’t find any information about what POV this is; he left his personal vehicle in Houston when he flew on a government plane to Florida, so perhaps he owned two cars?
There are three handwritten notes beneath that which I cannot read but claim $8.00 and $19.25, as well as $4.50 of charges that he subtracts from the total; these three are listed in the “subsistence” column. The grand total claimed on this voucher are $33.31 ($279.17 in 2024 dollars), and it was approved by someone named “C.W. Bird.”
My mother-in-law is ex-army and she takes advantage of every single deal and loophole she can find. I don’t blame her and I don’t blame Buzz. I especially don’t blame Buzz. He put his life on the line to go to the fucking moon. Reimburse him for whatever the hell he wants.
Not to mention, the guy spent three weeks cooped up in an Airstream trailer with nothing to do but eat steaks and drink whiskey. I’d guess that it’s not impossible he did this itinerary to stave off boredom one day.
I mean, a couple days, sure. Even a week. But after three weeks with only the same four other people (the two other astronauts + two NASA employees) and never being allowed to leave, when you went to the MOON and were allowed to go stretch your legs a few days in? It would get pretty old.
Oh, absolutely. And tbh, $280 is nothing to sneeze at. I would definitely report that kind of money, even if I had just been to the moon. Maybe especially if I had.
They (well, Buzz Aldrin, at least) also filled out a travel expense voucher to get reimbursed for driving his personal car, including from his home to the air force base from which he flew to Florida, as well as around Cape Kennedy, during his “official travel.”
His official itinerary is more detailed than the one provided on the customs form (all dates are, of course, in July of 1969):
7-7 | LV: Residence | 0445 | POV(note: POV means “Privately Owned Vehicle.” Aldrin reported 8 miles for this leg of the journey and was reimbursed 56¢.)7-7 | AR: EAFB | 0500(note: EAFB is “Ellington Air Force Base” in Houston)7-7 | LV: EAFB | 0530 | Gov. Air7-7 | AR: Cape Kennedy, Fla. | 08007-16 | LV: Cape Kennedy, Fla. | 0832 | Gov. Spacecraft(note: Saturn V serial number SA-506, of course)7-19 | AR: Moon | 13257-21 | LV: Moon | 2400 | Gov. Spacecraft(note: transfer from NASA LM-5 Eagle to NASA CSM-107 Columbia not listed)7-24 | AR: Pacific Ocean | 0600(note: at 13°19′N 169°9′W in the North Pacific, about 920 miles or 1480 km from Honolulu)7-24 | LV: Pacific Ocean | 0800 | USN Hornett(note: Aldrin misspelled the name of the US navy aircraft carrier Hornet here.)7-26 | AR: Hawaii | 0900(note: Pearl Harbor, to be specific)7-26 | LV: Hawaii | 1200 | USAF Plane(note: the particular plane was a C-141B Starlifter designated 66-7958 USAF, which I cannot find a name for.)7-27 | AR: EAFB | 01007-27 | LV: EAFB | 0215 | Gov. Veh.(note: the Gov. Veh. in question was the Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF), a converted Airstream trailer. They would stay in the MQF for three weeks. Actually, they boarded the MQF on the Hornet ; it was then loaded into 66-7958 in Hawaii and unloaded in Houston.)7-27 | AR: LRL | 0300(note: LRL is the Lunar Receiving Laboratory, building 37 at Johnson Space Center in Houston.)A notation beneath this itinerary reads “
Government meals and quarters furnished for all the above dates.”Aldrin also reported 100 miles of “official vicinity travel” at Cape Kennedy for the nine days between his arrival and departure, for which he was reimbursed $10. Another note reads “
POV authorized for official vicinity travel at Cape Kennedy, Fla. in leiu(sic)of rental car.” I can’t find any information about what POV this is; he left his personal vehicle in Houston when he flew on a government plane to Florida, so perhaps he owned two cars?There are three handwritten notes beneath that which I cannot read but claim $8.00 and $19.25, as well as $4.50 of charges that he subtracts from the total; these three are listed in the “subsistence” column. The grand total claimed on this voucher are $33.31 ($279.17 in 2024 dollars), and it was approved by someone named “C.W. Bird.”
My mother-in-law is ex-army and she takes advantage of every single deal and loophole she can find. I don’t blame her and I don’t blame Buzz. I especially don’t blame Buzz. He put his life on the line to go to the fucking moon. Reimburse him for whatever the hell he wants.
Not to mention, the guy spent three weeks cooped up in an Airstream trailer with nothing to do but eat steaks and drink whiskey. I’d guess that it’s not impossible he did this itinerary to stave off boredom one day.
You say that like it’s a bad thing.
I mean, a couple days, sure. Even a week. But after three weeks with only the same four other people (the two other astronauts + two NASA employees) and never being allowed to leave, when you went to the MOON and were allowed to go stretch your legs a few days in? It would get pretty old.
And then there’s the trip back…
Oh, absolutely. And tbh, $280 is nothing to sneeze at. I would definitely report that kind of money, even if I had just been to the moon. Maybe especially if I had.
That’s probably a thing I would do just because it’s funny.
Honestly that sounds like Aldrin.
3 days in box that’s 4 by 11 meters with 2 other dudes.
Yep. 4, actually; I guess they had two NASA volunteers in there with them.