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Space & Astronomy

Neil Armstrong's bag could fetch up to $4M

By T.K. Randall
May 23, 2017 · Comment icon 4 comments

Armstrong used the bag to collect moon rock samples. Image Credit: NASA
A bag used by the late astronaut to collect samples during the Apollo 11 mission is to be sold at auction.
At a glance the off-white pouch might not look like anything special, but despite appearances this unassuming item was actually carried all the way to the Moon by the first man ever to set foot there.

Neil Armstrong, who died in 2012, had used it to carry samples of rocks he had picked up from the lunar surface and even to this day it still contains small amounts of moon dust from the mission.

Since returning to the Earth however the bag has had something of a tumultuous history.
A few years ago the US government actually lost track of it, resulting in it being accidentally sold at auction for less than $1,000 to a woman in Illinois.

Now though, following a lengthy legal case over the ownership of the bag, the item will be finally going up for auction in an official capacity at Sotheby's New York on July 20th.

The sale is expected to fetch between $2 and $4 million.


"Still containing traces of the moon dust, the artifact gives a collector the chance to not only own some of the first lunar material ever collected, but also the chance to own an exceptionally rare relic of humanity's greatest achievement - landing a man on the moon," Sotheby's wrote.

Source: National Post | Comments (4)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #1 Posted by Nonentity 7 years ago
This should be in the Smithsonian.
Comment icon #2 Posted by Grandpa Greenman 7 years ago
Wish I had a spare 4 million.  
Comment icon #3 Posted by Future ghost 7 years ago
I wonder what happened to the moon rocks that were in the bag,- did the government lose those, too?
Comment icon #4 Posted by paperdyer 7 years ago
To some doubters out there, the dust is probably worth more than the bag.  There has to be some way to determine the origin of the dust and finally put this to bed.


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