Space stuff is being auctioned in New York City today at the Bonham's auction house, CBS reported. They won't come cheap.
About 300 items from the U.S. and Russian space organizations are on sale, the cheapest for a few thousand and the most expensive tens of thousands. With enough money, collectors can leave with autographed memorabilia from iconic astronauts to an actual space suit. (Surprisingly, the space suit is actually cheaper.)
The auction is unique because of "items that came directly from astronauts, items that they carried into lunar orbit with them, items that went to the lunar surface and items that have lunar dust on them," according to Casandra Hatton, Bonham's space history specialist.
Thus, many of the objects for sale have been in space, some to the moon on the groundbreaking Apollo 11 flight. One emblem taken from that flight signed by all three of of its members ( Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins), a package of names expected to sell for between $40,000 and $60,000. The Apollo 11 mission was the first human flight to the moon.
Even random objects such as a lunar surface checklist sheet (with marks from Buzz Aldrin) and a camera part from the Apollo 15 shuttle are expected to sell for top dollar.
"It was used in the module when it landed on the moon and also on takeoff," Hutton said of the camera piece, which is expected to command between $20,000 and $30,000. "It's extremely rare, probably the only one in private hands."
Anything is rare I guess when it belongs to a long gone rocket ship. Imagine the type of prices more significant objects would have fetched, like the rocket ship's engine.
