It might be called a "magnificent disposition."
Adapted from Buzz Aldrin's words when he became one of the first humans to walk on the moon 53 years ago this week, Sotheby's is set to offer artifacts from the Apollo 11 astronauts personal collection
"These objects not only witnessed mankind's greatest achievement, but many of them made that achievement possible," according to a video preview of the auction house's July sale. These are important historic artifacts from that time. They remind us of what can be accomplished.
The first men on the moon.
A member of NASA's third group of astronauts selected in 1963, Buzz Aldrin conducted three spacewalks on the last mission to use the two-man vehicle, three years before landing on the moon with NeilArmstrong. He is the last living member of the Apollo 11 crew and he died at 92.
The full scope of Dr. Aldrin's career is covered in the sale, starting with his PhD work at MIT, where he wrote his thesis on the lunar module rendezvous technique, to his first spacewalk, and objects from Apollo 11.
The historic nature of the artifacts that are up for sale is something that distinguishes the catalog from other auctions. The Apollo-era astronauts retained title to the space-flown equipment they kept as souvenirs.
The felt tip pen is one of the highlights of the sale, as it was crucial to the success of the Apollo 11 mission.
There were no guards around the circuitbreakers. One broke off and the other got pushed in. In a 1991 interview with the editor of the Apollo lunar surface journal, Aldrin said that he broke one of the lunar modules after pushing it in.
The broken switch had to be used to arm the engine. The flight controllers in Mission Control came up with a solution, but Aldrin came up with his own.
He pulled a felt tip pen out of his pocket. The tip of the pen fit into the hole where the switch was. They were able to reassemble and meet up with MikeCollins after he stuck it in there and the engine was able to ignite.
The Apollo 11 command module, which was on loan to the Smithsonian for a two-year, five-city tour, is expected to sell for $2 million to $3 million.
The jacket that Aldrin wore on the Apollo 11 mission is up for sale.
"It's got the NASA emblem, the Apollo 11 eagle emblem, his name and American flag, and some of the most famous pictures from the mission, other than the actual moonwalk, are of Buzz wearing this jacket." There is only one garment that can be private owned.
On the surface of the moon, as well as inflight coveralls worn by the two astronauts, are in the care of the National Air and Space Museum. The jacket is expected to sell for a lot of money.
A "Go Army, Beat Navy" banner that Aldrin carried on one of his spacewalks is one of the highlights from the "Buzz Aldrin: American Icon" sale.
The Army-Navy football match took place before the launch of Gemini 6. They put up a sign in the window of the spaceship. The 'Go Army, Beat Navy' banner was pulled out of nowhere by Buzz when he was floating around in space, because he was a Navy man and Buzz was a soldier.
The sign is expected to sell for $20,000 to $30,000.
The sale includes space-flown artifacts, as well as flown flags, philatelic covers, and the "Moonman" MTV award statuette, which was presented to Aldrin.
The sale will be held at the New York City gallery. There was an event on Tuesday, July 26th. There will be an exhibition of the auction's lots.
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