The Spoils of Spaceflight

Space-faring artifacts sold at an April auction drew bucks big and small

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Photo: Bonhams
In April, Bonhams auction house held a space history sale in New York City timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Apollo 13. An Apollo 11 checklist page that details the countdown to the first footsteps on the moon sold for US $152 000. The sheet boasts Neil Armstrong’s signature, along with his historic first words from the moon’s surface. The page was allegedly given as a gift to NASA press officer John McLeaish just days after the first moonwalkers returned. But the purchase is not without intrigue: Armstrong himself swears he never signed the quote for anyone.
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