We’re now just one month away from the 50th anniversary of NASA’s Apollo 11 mission to the Moon, and owners of some seriously sought-after space relics are putting their memorabilia on the auction block in the hopes of capitalizing on the hype.
RR Auction is hosting the bidding for a number of rare artifacts that traveled to the Moon decades ago and as you might expect, prices are out of this world. Among the items being offered is a roll of 70 mm film that was taken to the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission, as well as an American Flag that traveled around the Moon during the Apollo 15 campaign.
The flag, which measures just under six inches on its longest side, was carried to the South Pole in January of 1970 and then made the trip to space in the Command Module Endeavor on the Apollo 15 mission. It’s also signed by Dave Scott, commander of the mission, and comes with a letter of certification, also signed by Scott.
As interesting as that story is, the roll of 70 mm film from the Apollo 11 mission might have it beat:
Extremely rare second-generation 70-mm positive film roll from Magazine S of the Apollo 11 Hasselblad camera, containing 126 of the most iconic images from the first lunar-landing mission.
The roll features photographs taken by Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin during their historic two-and-a-half-hour lunar EVA at Tranquility Base on July 20, 1969, with color images including: moments from inside the Lunar Module Eagle immediately prior to Armstrong leaving the spacecraft.
The relics are up for sale right now and are already fetching some impressive cash, but have not yet reached their pre-auction estimates. The flag, for example, is currently priced at around $1,500 but is expected to eventually net as much as $10,000. The film roll, on the other hand, has already reached over $7,000 of an estimated $8,000 final price and could go much higher.
