The sons of US astronaut Neil Armstrong have auctioned more than 2,000 private memorabilia from their father. The first man on the moon should have lived his passion for collecting all his life and saved everything that he could get hold of. That paid off – at least for the family.
7.45 million dollars (6.53 million euros) gave lovers of space travel for the memorabilia of Neil Armstrong, as the auction house Heritage Auctians in Dallas announced on its website. The highest proceeds of nearly $ 470,000 scored an identification plaque that had the US astronaut died in 2012 in the lunar module „Eagle“.
Armstrong (1930-2012) was at that time commander of the Space Shuttle Apollo 11. With him the astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins flew. He was the first person to enter the moon on July 20, 1969. Armstrong’s words are unforgettable: „This is a small step for man … a … a giant leap for humanity.“
Among the more than 2,000 pieces that came under the hammer were, among other things, letters, pins and a flag, which had flown into space with Armstrong. A space suit worn by Armstrong in 1966 aboard the space mission Gemini 8 brought the family nearly $ 110,000.
„There are pieces that make you think, pieces that make you laugh, and pieces that make you scratch your head in wonder,“ Armstrong’s son Mark said before the auction. The family had previously left their father’s historic objects to the Washington National Air and Space Museum. Two more auctions with remaining pieces from the estate are planned for next year.
No one really knew the extent of the collection Armstrong had accumulated on earth during his 82 years, not even the astronaut’s children. Some memorabilia came from his space travel past. The Armstrong family had found the collection after the death of the astronaut in his house. „He has kept all the things he had with him on his Apollo 11 mission,“ said Armstrong’s younger son Mark.
Already last year, a bag for moon rock was auctioned in New York for about 1.8 million dollars. Anyone who bought the small white zipper bag labeled „Lunar Sample Return“ for about 1.6 million euros, with which Neil Armstrong returned stone samples from the moon in 1969, was not informed. Originally, the auction house Sotheby’s had hoped for the bag in which are no more stones, but still a remnant moon dust, up to four million dollars.
The purse had been flawed after the end of the mission and almost landed in the garbage. For decades, it was then unrecognized in warehouses until an authority of the US Department of Justice auctioned it together with other pieces. A woman paid $ 995 for it and released the bag for auction.
