Armstrong EKG Readings During Moon Landing Up For Auction 52
Okian Warrior writes "New Hampshire based RR Auction is selling the EKG of Neil Armstrong's heartbeat taken when he stepped onto the moon, among many other items of space and aviation historical interest. 'It was really slow on the way down, while Aldrin's was racing' described Gerald Schaber, geologist, who had the task of monitoring Armstrong's heartbeat during the final famous moments of the Apollo 11 landing. The auction begins May 16th."
HIPAA? (Score:3, Funny)
Wouldn't this violate HIPAA? This is a medical record of the health of a specific patient, easily identified.
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HIPAA only covers a narrow range of institutions and the contractors who work for them (healthcare providers, insurance companies, stuff like that). It doesn't cover just anyone making readings of a heartbeat.
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Wouldn't this violate HIPAA? This is a medical record of the health of a specific patient, easily identified.
What's Neil Armstrong going to do about it if it is a HIPAA violation?
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Since it's not copyright, a lawsuit from beyond the grave is unlikely.
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That's more dead-on accurate than I think you realize.
US privacy laws, including HIPAA, typically only apply to living persons. Once they're dead, their personal information quickly loses legal protection. There is a bit of a gray area concerning living relatives of the deceased, and organizations may keep information protected because it's easier, but the legal protection expires.
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Wouldn't this violate HIPAA? This is a medical record of the health of a specific patient, easily identified.
What's Neil Armstrong going to do about it if it is a HIPAA violation?
Yeah, I forgot he died.
Still, though, given the raging hard-on most institutions in the US have about HIPAA, and specifically, about revealing "PHI" to the public (not an abbreviation for Philadelphia, but for "Patient Health Information) you'd think that even the appearance of selling medical records would be frowned upon, even if it isn't a technical violation.
Value (Score:5, Informative)
For those interested, it sold for $12,500 in Apr 2005. It has had 8 years and two deaths (Neil and NASA manned flights) over that period to help it appreciate in value.
I would say it sells somewhere around $75,000.
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I did pull it out of my ass. Demand has certainly went up since Neil is now dead and NASA is now not even doing manned space flight. Also, buyers will forcast the increase in demand when 2019 (50th year) rolls around.
The production of authentic NASA memorabilia has fallen sharply so the supply of alternatives has flat lined too. However, I mostly base the number on what I would pay if I had unlimited money.
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So his current EKG is ---------
Something for the man who has everything (Score:2)
Other than that?
I imagine it has some scientific value for showing how well a highly trained and experienced individual goes through a stressful situation, but other than that?
myke
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Sure, they should be able to get the information .. but I believe what is for sale here is the actual paper record during the event.
They're not selling you the information, but the artifact.
Why buy a fake EKG? (Score:4, Funny)
The most real this could be is Armstrong's EKG from the studio where the landing was staged, considering the entire moon landing was a hoax.
(end easy troll)
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Eagle Landing (Score:5, Interesting)
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Funny how that works sometimes. I had an autopilot failure in flight that appeared to be a controls failure. My heartrate was WAAYYY up there and I was definitely very amped up. I went back and listened to the ATC recordings of my emergency declaration and the following couple minutes until landing. I *sounded* as calm as if I was sitting on the front porch drinking lemonade! The reality of course was much different. :-)
Re:Eagle Landing (Score:4, Insightful)
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I don't know how secret this is, but I'd be interested to hear it if you can upload it somewhere.
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I'm really looking for a hard link for it for an essay i'm writing.
Who owns this? (Score:4, Interesting)
Doesn't this belong to the people of the United States? They paid for it. If it was sold to raise money, then I'm fine with this. And that should be part of the public record. But otherwise, WTF?
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Fine, you own the data. You can have access to it whenever you want, I'm sure. But you don't own this [rrauction.com], the actual paper sheet and the plaque that they mounted it on. It was given to a private individual, who sold it. Now you can buy it. Or perhaps instead you would like a sword [rrauction.com], or Buzz's underwear [rrauction.com], or this fine handle [rrauction.com].
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Looking at the tag for the handle just made me think of an astronaut finding that tag instead of the handle and radioing "Huston, we have a problem."
People buy the supidest shit.. (Score:4, Funny)
Speaking of which.. if anybody is interested I can sell my next bowel movement that I'm currently in the process of making while I read the post about this auction for Neil Armstrong's EKG.
I won't even auction it. I'll give you a buy it now price of $10. What a steal! Hurry now, supplies are limited!
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Unless you dumped on the moon, I'll pass.
Aldrin's BM might be worth something, dunno.
Geologist reading EKG? (Score:3)
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I'd rather a plumber did my colonoscopy than have an orthopaedic surgeon interpret my ECG
Not MY plumber, though...we had to replace a meter of the drain because it started leaking over time. Imagine *that* with your colon.
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Well.. a plumber doing a colonscopy is actually pretty close.. considering..
Oblig Onion Article: (Score:1)
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So where is the auction link? (Score:1)
The summary links to three different categories of items on the auction site, none of which contain the EKG paper. A search on that site for Armstrong yields only three items, all of which are signed photos. The PCMag article links in turn to a local Denver TV station's article, at which point the trail goes cold.
Where is a link to actually view / bid on the item?
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http://www.rrauction.com/preview_itemdetail.cfm?IN=405 [rrauction.com]
Not as interesting as his EEG readings (Score:2)
Other EKGs available on demand (Score:2)