on "america tonight" the weekend edition, cosmic cash buying in on the most valuable souvenirs from space. >> you orbit the moon or did it go to the moon and land. if it landed on the moon was it taken out. >> "america tonight"s adam may with the lowdown. and gearing up... ..the pentagon's most expensive weapon system. should it be cleared for take off. >> thing of it as a blow torch

surrounded by fuel. sheila macvicar's investigation into the f-35 thank you for joining us. i'm when. we begin with a saga of the f-35, the most expensive weapons programme in u.s. history. a pentagon report raises questions about performing in combat. prompting many to ask is it worth the $1.4 trillion price tag. the defense department says yes, with no more vigorous defender than the machines set to declare its use in summer. others say it is premature. >> reporter: what does it mean if the marine corp declares i.o.c. in 2015? >> it's a sham. that's what it means. >> tom christy is a high ranking

pentagon official. he was the senior advisor for the secretary of defense for the testing of weapons the sham is a decision by the marine core to declare its version of the fighter plain ready for combat or i.o.c. >> the programme has been embarrassing and they are at the point to say we'll take what we get. >> do you think the plane is combat ready? >> absolutely not. that is years away in my book. the f-35 is the most expensive weapons programme history, with a price tag of 1.4 troilion. it's one of most problematic, beset by safety reliabilitiy and performance, ever since the

first f35 rolleded off the assembly line. they are producing what 40, 50 planes of the year. that's full-scale production, that's a tragedy. god knows what we'll do to fix the aircraft. nonetheless, the pentagon plans to bay some f 25s, 50 for the marines. >> assessment by the pentagon's own assessment the office christy identified, showed up some problems with the f-35 some so severe they could is flight critical effects. >> let's look at why the airplane is dangerous to the pile. >> reporter: pierre once evaluated planes for the department of defense. he was part of a team designing the f-16 fighter in the early

1970s. he has since left the pentagon, he spoke with pilots that flew the f-35. >> we asked about the document. it says life fire test and evaluation confirmed vulnerabilities of the fuel tank structure. what does that many. >> they implemented tests where they took pieces of the air plane, they found it was bad as you expect. >> reporter: they catch fire burn and explode, because there's too much flammable stuff located in the organization. thing of it as a blow torch surrounded by fuel. >> behind safety. the f-35 is crippled by floors limiting its utility in combat. problems stepping from the design of the marine corp.

the idea was the airplane rise and land vertically. >> the marines want a jump jet to accompany troops on the front line. the air is so hot. >> you can't land on the concrete. it will explode the concrete. >> reporter: what do you land on. >> you need special high temperatures ceramic-type concrete. and the whole excuse is you need it vertical take off so you get close to the troops. >> according to the spray it creates another problem. necessitating a fan in the plane's mid section. >> all the other services put up with that. it compromised speed and agility. >> to go superspoonic, you have to be long and slender.

it can't be, sitting here is a great big fan blowing straight down across the fuselage. it's huge. the fuselage is as fat as a pick. >> all versions share the same basic frame, the performance of the air force versions are affected too. >> the truth of the matter is that there could never be a fast acceleration. >> reporter: in this memo leaked days ago and obtained by "america tonight". the test fighter writes about a mock fighter, pitting an f-35 against an older f-16. the exercise was meant to test high angles of attack with the manoeuvring hard. according to the f-35. it had an energy disadvantage for every engagement. in other words, and couldn't

clim or turn fast enough to kill or evade the f-16. it was alt an arrow dynamic disadvantage weighed down by two 70 gallon fuel tanks. the f-35 was flying clean. the pilot goes on to say the manoeuvrability substantially inferior to the f-15 e. another ageing but proven force. >> it's heavy, it creates a lot of wing area to create risks, to return the corners that the feet and enemy attack putting you in a winning position. this is like a rock when it comes to moving.

when went so far is to describe it as unique. that went so far as to say it did not disel the story, it was not equipped with software, stealth coding or weapons. the f-35 is designed to kill enemies from long distances, not in visual dog fighting situations situations. this is not the first time the pentagon declared the aerial dog fight dead. in the 1950s, the kill from affair with the f 4 phantom. after staggering losses of pilots and plans in the dog fights with north vietnam een, the u.s. reversed course, going on to establish the top gun school. the air force bank in nevada is

one place. this general is the highest ranking officer to qualify. >> the air force is delighted to declare this item ready for combass. the f-35 facing impediment. it grounded the fleet for weeks. it remains optimistic. there incidents we are working through the expanding of operations. >> is it likely that as you expand the envelope, you find

for issues. >> it's because of what we do we have time to get that initial capability. i'm not worried today that we'll get through the 16. as for the marine core. it recently completed trials, include, landics, take you have. air strikes and maintenance. the marines deemed them a success. it's not just the former members that are skeptical. the military plan to buy 40 said the plane pay be one of the biggest white elements history. >> "america tonight" sheila macvicar is with us. before the aircraft is deployed.

how could this be. how can it get down the track. as they produce the plane, as they work on the plane, they are testing and making refinements. every time they find a problem, as we see. >> they have to go back and change the other planes. this is a complex process. one of the reasons why this happens, is this plane has a huge economic footprohibit. 44 states. plus a lot of work outside international partners. there's a lot of incentive to keep it rolling off. there is an argument, those that favour the art. what is to that. >> there's people who are clear,

including those that fly it that are strong supporters that believe that the air plane, when it gets to real operational capacity, it will deliver new generation capacity to the u.s. military, that it has design features that are novel, taking it above. there's a problem. they'll be expensive to work out. if they can, this should be next generation war fighter. it may be a long way down the road. as we go down the road and discover problems with the plane, and more will be discovered as the plane is turned further and further, then there are more expenses associated with fixing it. the argument could be made that it is a live testing process. we are beta testing the aircraft, and you should expect to find problems.

the problem is at the same time as they are finding problems, they continue to make 40 or 50 a year. the other part, that is supposing to help with the price, the canadian italian, all that have a piece of the pie. some indicate they are not so willing to invest in the games because of the life-time cost of the programs soaring beyond what anyone caught they would be. this is coming expensive "america tonight"s sheila macvicar losing his brother but picking up the cause. one year after the crash of mh17, herming and honouring

also lunar loot who gets to collect and hot - a fill dellifia's mum whose sun struggled with addiction, goes to the streets to save other's kids. stay with al jazeera america.

a tragic air anniversary marked this week. a year ago, malaysia airlines flight 17 crashed over ukraine after take you have from dean

ambrose. -- amsterdam. all lost their lives, among them a leading aid activist. "america tonight" spoke to his brother about keeping pim's legacy alive. >> reporter: paul last chatted with his brother pim on the day, the day before he boarded flight 17. as an h.i.v. lobbyist the 32-year-old was headed to an a.i.d.s. conference in australia, and was the world traveller, as an advocate for democracy. >> this is video of him in turkey. he worked on democracy projects in egypt. sierra leone and mal-asia and spent time in ukraine. he was there, on behalf of the ministry of foreign affairs and european union, and believed that this country, like others in the world would be better if you have democratic processes that worked. paul said if his brother was

still alive he would be talking about a peaceful resolution to the conflict. >> my brother, in this situation, he would ask everyone to think about the next steps. before we know it we see the situation deteriorate. it will not bring back my brother or peace to my family or the people of ukraine. >> reporter: pim's death, in a country where he worked to bring about a fresh start is it not a firm move dialogue is more effective than force. it's helping hill. >> the real phase of morning is yet to start. from "america tonight" lori jane gliha. paul and friends of his brother put together a foundation a

fitting memorial a year after his death. next, a price of moon as well. bliing if from souvenirs in space. >> i was told by a reliable source, if you came up with 10 grand, my whole suit would be on my porch. >>

the apollo astronauts helped america win the space race what they brought back helped to fuel an artefact race. after his death, we learnt that

neil armstrong kept a stash of souvenirs. the first man on the moon didn't sell his, other astronauts and his family tried to which adam may found led to earthy interventions. >> three. two. one. we have a lift off. >> reporter: apollo astronauts won the space race beating the soviets to the moon and captivated the world. they were heroes with the fright sauf bringing home moon rock and mementos souvenirs of historic journeys. >> sold, $37,500. nearly half a sennurery later, space artefacts are worth a small fortune. with some its selling for dens hundreds of thousands of

dollars. >> sold $50,000. >> robert is a founder and editor of space.com. what is the most valuable? >> if you are a pecking order that threw to the mon, and if you go and orbit. did it land on the mon. was it on the surface? >> that is the most valuable. that is was it tained with moon tuft. a checklist, they could flip the pages and see what they were doing. you can see every photo of them walking on the moon. every one coated in moon tuft. >> this has, until recent had

been been left up in the air. the astronaut put what he used. the space station september in. no charges were made against dr ich yell. >> mitchell turned over the camera, used to shoot this film to the smithsonian. apollo astronauts pushed back saying this was an informal agreement allowing them to hang on to their souvenirs, and h41 was signed into law allowing apollo astronauts to keep and cash in on its they brought home. like a flag and a personal preference kid belonging to buzz ald ren, and this flown to the

surface and signed by gene the last man to walk on the moon. >> now space is the most popular collectible. bob auctions off space mementos. >> we solved the tough checklist by dave scott. that's what he used to drive the lunar rover. >> this is a rocket override. >> it's almost 400,000, and another item was the hand rotation. >> welcome to the international space station. i'm brighton anderson. you the law only benefitted vast row naughts and didn't do anything. astronauts like clayton

anderson. >> yes, this handrail. you look on the suspect. you see a gold handrail. not that one. this was on the bottom of a slab module. >> anderson said he had to get special permission to keep the discarded handrail from the international space station. with a stuff near from the russian mission, he was not lucky. >> i war my russian space suit in place. i asked if i could have my gloves. they are custom wade for my hand. they are sewn on the sleeve of the blub. i was denied. >> where do you think they are now? >> could be at a flea market in moscow could be used as training cloves, i have no idea. >> i was told by reliable sources if you came up with 10

grand, whole suit would end up on the porch. i was told for $10,000 american suit be on your porch. >> reporter: then there are torch ris. >> neil armstrong is an iconic picture. he's basically a modern day christopher colombus. >> reporter: neil is a collector of armstrong autographs, and is an expert on signatures and forgeries. >> a signed n.a.s.a. picture is worth 4500. that's a forgery on the left. armstrong never signed over the flag. >> forgeries are around simply because it's a quick dollar. one lucrative stash of moon loot landed in court. lunar bibles printed on microfilm. >> they were preinduced, a group in or around the community who

wanted to express support for the space program. they flew on apollo 13 and it was houston, we have a problem. came back to earth. they took a sunset and flew them out. they went to the moon. there was rumours they were out on the surface of the moon. they were packed in the personal preference kick. he brought them back to earth. the founder of the league, job stout is in his 90s living in this engineering home. this collection of lunar bibles is the disappear of a custody battle. author, carol, who wrote a book has 14 lunar bibles and the city of texas wants them back to pay for saut's care. he said four were given as

gifts. the two sides are in mediation. the stakes are high lunar bibles sold at auction for 50,000. >> flights to the mon may be over the price of souvenirs remains in orbit. that's "america tonight". tell us what you think. talk to us on twitter or facebook, and come back. we'll have more of "america tonight" tomorrow.

>> this is "techknow". a show about innovations that can change lives. >> the science of fighting a wildfire. >> we're going to explore the intersection of hardware and humanity, but we're doing it in a unique way. this is a show about science... >> oh! >> oh my god! >> by scientists. tonight: >> [crowd chanting] hell no, gmos! >> techknow investigates gmos. >> you can't just tell me it's safe. >> strawberries that battle bacteria. tomatoes that resist to spot and apples that don't turn brown. >> so walk me through what it is about this strawberry plant - >> a new generation of genetically modified food sets off a new round of anger and fear. >> i should have punched you in the... "blan