A parliamentary speaker might claim $5000 to make a short chopper ride to Geelong, but the travel expenses for a trip to the moon are a little more austere.
Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon, has revealed a fascinating piece of memorabilia on social media: the travel voucher he billed NASA for his historic journey into space.
The bureaucratic expense form is beautifully understated about the nature of Mr Aldrin's travel, simply listing the destination as "moon" by "government spacecraft".
The full return itinerary from Houston also includes Mr Aldrin's stay in the Pacific Ocean on the USS Hornet, the ship which recovered Apollo 11.
After filing his claim in August 1969, Mr Aldrin was presented with a cheque by the government reimbursing him for the grand total of $US33.31. Adjusted for inflation, that would be $US216.59 in today's money.
It's not quite the $5,227.27 claimed by Speaker Bronwyn Bishop for a chartered 100km helicopter flight from Melbourne to Geelong to visit a Liberal Party fundraiser in November last year. Ms Bishop has since paid back the claim after public outcry.
Mr Aldrin said on social media the expense claim was his manager Christina Korp's favourite bit of memorabilia in his collection from Apollo 11.
The voucher covers the standard per diem allowance military personnel were able to claim while away from base, which also includes meals and board.
GQ reported that as a joke, one astronaut tried to submit an expenses claim at the standard eight US cents per mile for a trip to the moon, which would have come to around $US80,000.
NASA apparently replied to the claim by invoicing the astronaut $US185 million for the Saturn V rocket they would be riding.
#TBT My mission director @Buzzs_xtina's favorite piece of my memorabilia. My travel voucher to the moon. #Apollo11 pic.twitter.com/c89UyOfvgY— Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz)
July 30, 2015
