Space & Astronomy

Original Apollo 11 tapes to fetch $2 million

By T.K. Randall
June 29, 2019 ·  5 comments

NASA managed to lose almost all the original Apollo 11 tapes. Image Credit: NASA Despite the groundbreaking nature of the Apollo 11 mission, the original tape recordings of the event were sadly lost after NASA recorded over them during a data tape shortage back in the 1980s.

As luck would have it however, some of the tapes did actually survive.

Three of the original tapes were found totally by accident after Gary George purchased a large pile of tapes from a US government surplus auction 40 years ago for a measly $218.He had planned to sell them to television stations, but he kept three marked "Apollo 11 EVA".

He later discovered that the otherwise unremarkable tapes were in fact original recordings from the iconic mission and one even included Neil Armstrong's famous "one small step" speech.

"I had no idea there was anything of value on them," said George.

The tapes are now expected to fetch up to $2 million.

Source: The Guardian | Comments (5)

Tags: Apollo 11