Billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has announced that he wants to recover at least one of the five F-1 engines that launched the historic Apollo 11 moon mission in 1969, which are now sitting 14,000 feet deep in the Atlantic Ocean.
Bezos recently funded an undersea expedition which he says used sonar to location the engines, and he revealed today that he's drawing up plans to bring them up from their watery resting place.
"We don't know yet what condition these engines might be in," he wrote. "They hit the ocean at high velocity and have been in salt water for more than 40 years. On the other hand, they're made of tough stuff, so we'll see."
Of course, the engines remain the property of NASA, so it's up to them to decide what to do with them if and when they're recovered.
NASA hasn't been formally contacted by Bezos, but spokesman Bob Jacobs said the space agency is excited about Bezos's plan.
"There has always been great interest in artifacts from the early days of space exploration and his announcement only adds to the enthusiasm of those interested in NASA's history," he said in a statement.
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