Space
1961 Vostok
2011 SOLD for $ 2.9M by Sotheby's
Sputnik 1 demonstrated in October 1957 the feasibility of orbital flights. It was only a small sphere of 58 cm in diameter, but the Soviets had other plans ready in their boxes.
Only a month later, Sputnik 2, a large conical capsule of 4 meters high and 2 meters in diameter at the base, established unequivocally that the goal of the Soviets was a successful manned flight.
The death of the dog Laika during the flight of Sputnik 2 showed that this test was premature. The Russians, embarrassed by this event, waited 45 years to confess that her death was due to excessive heat. Anyway, the martyred dog would not have passed the conditions of reentry.
Thereafter the program was held step by step. In August 1960, two dogs, a rabbit, two rats and 42 mice came back alive after a full day in orbit.
The Soviets were now ready to send the first cosmonaut in space. Becoming cautious, they made a last rehearsal on March 25, 1961, with the dog Zvezdochka aboard Sputnik 10. The success of this mission provided the green light for the flight of Gagarin on April 12, 1961.
Half a century has passed since that historic flight. On April 12, 2011, Sotheby's sold for $ 2.9M the Vostok 3KA-2 capsule used for the Sputnik 10 mission. This prestigious carcass was emptied for a long time of its equipment.
It is identical to Gagarin's capsule, and unique of its kind on the market. Its price is hard to predict. The auction house announces a very opened range of estimates: between 2 and 10 million dollars.
Only a month later, Sputnik 2, a large conical capsule of 4 meters high and 2 meters in diameter at the base, established unequivocally that the goal of the Soviets was a successful manned flight.
The death of the dog Laika during the flight of Sputnik 2 showed that this test was premature. The Russians, embarrassed by this event, waited 45 years to confess that her death was due to excessive heat. Anyway, the martyred dog would not have passed the conditions of reentry.
Thereafter the program was held step by step. In August 1960, two dogs, a rabbit, two rats and 42 mice came back alive after a full day in orbit.
The Soviets were now ready to send the first cosmonaut in space. Becoming cautious, they made a last rehearsal on March 25, 1961, with the dog Zvezdochka aboard Sputnik 10. The success of this mission provided the green light for the flight of Gagarin on April 12, 1961.
Half a century has passed since that historic flight. On April 12, 2011, Sotheby's sold for $ 2.9M the Vostok 3KA-2 capsule used for the Sputnik 10 mission. This prestigious carcass was emptied for a long time of its equipment.
It is identical to Gagarin's capsule, and unique of its kind on the market. Its price is hard to predict. The auction house announces a very opened range of estimates: between 2 and 10 million dollars.
1969 Apollo 11
Intro
The progression within the missions of the Apollo project is the most exciting sequence of innovations in the history of technological developments. Here is this sequence :
Apollo 4, November 1967, first Saturn V launch and first Apollo unmanned flight
Apollo 5, January 1968, uncrewed with the Lunar Module.
Apollo 6, April 1968, qualification of the Saturn V launcher for future crewed flights.
Apollo 7, October 1968, the first Apollo manned flight.
Apollo 8, December 1968, Lunar orbit flight.
Apollo 9, March 1969, Lunar Module test around the Earth.
Apollo 10, May 1969, Lunar Module test around the Moon.
Apollo 11, July 1969 Moon landing and walk on the Moon.
Apollo 4, November 1967, first Saturn V launch and first Apollo unmanned flight
Apollo 5, January 1968, uncrewed with the Lunar Module.
Apollo 6, April 1968, qualification of the Saturn V launcher for future crewed flights.
Apollo 7, October 1968, the first Apollo manned flight.
Apollo 8, December 1968, Lunar orbit flight.
Apollo 9, March 1969, Lunar Module test around the Earth.
Apollo 10, May 1969, Lunar Module test around the Moon.
Apollo 11, July 1969 Moon landing and walk on the Moon.
1
made in 1968 Aldrin Coverall Jacket
2022 SOLD for $ 2.8M by Sotheby's
The NASA Inflight Coverall Garment (ICG) of an astronaut in flight was made of a jacket plus trousers and boots.
During an Apollo 1 launch simulation in January 1967, a fire accident in the command module killed the three astronauts. The ICG material was then declared as dangerous and its nylon was then replaced by the specially developed fire proof teflon coated Beta Cloth.
The coverall jacket serial number 1039 was completed by the subcontractor in December 1968. During the Apollo 11 mission, Edwin Aldrin wore it in the journey to the Moon and back excepted when a pressured garment was necessary, which were during the launch and in the Lunar Module. The NASA Apollo 11 portrait of Aldrin wearing the jacket is shared by Wikimedia.
Aldrin's Apollo 11 jacket was sold for $ 2.8M from a lower estimate of $ 1M by Sotheby's on July 26, 2022, lot 6 in the sale of his private collection. Aldrin signed a detailed provenance letter. A unique digital NFT identifier using new microscopic 3D scanning technology will be minted to the Ethereum blockchain for authentication of that piece.
Aldrin's jacket is the only Apollo 11 flown garment in private hands, all the others being kept by the Smithsonian.
During an Apollo 1 launch simulation in January 1967, a fire accident in the command module killed the three astronauts. The ICG material was then declared as dangerous and its nylon was then replaced by the specially developed fire proof teflon coated Beta Cloth.
The coverall jacket serial number 1039 was completed by the subcontractor in December 1968. During the Apollo 11 mission, Edwin Aldrin wore it in the journey to the Moon and back excepted when a pressured garment was necessary, which were during the launch and in the Lunar Module. The NASA Apollo 11 portrait of Aldrin wearing the jacket is shared by Wikimedia.
Aldrin's Apollo 11 jacket was sold for $ 2.8M from a lower estimate of $ 1M by Sotheby's on July 26, 2022, lot 6 in the sale of his private collection. Aldrin signed a detailed provenance letter. A unique digital NFT identifier using new microscopic 3D scanning technology will be minted to the Ethereum blockchain for authentication of that piece.
Aldrin's jacket is the only Apollo 11 flown garment in private hands, all the others being kept by the Smithsonian.
2
Armstrong Robbins Medallion
2019 SOLD for $ 2.05M by Heritage
The tradition of commemorative medallions flown in US space missions begins with the first manned Gemini flight. They were made of pewter or sterling and sometimes gilded. Although the production was not documented, their boxes were marked Fliteline. The mission dates are engraved after the return to earth.
The latest series of Fliteline medallions is for Apollo 1. Eight prototypes had been prepared before the cabin fire. As a tribute to his fallen comrades, Neil Armstrong took a gilt specimen with him to the Apollo 11 LM. Coming from his collection, it was sold for $ 275K by Heritage on November 1, 2018.
When the Apollo program restarted in 1968, NASA reorganized this prestigious operation. The design is generally made by the crew of the related mission. Until Apollo 10 the shape is free. The production is entrusted to Robbins Company, a supplier of badges for the FBI and of Olympic medals.
The sterling silver medallions are now serialized, probably because NASA fears that astronauts will derive a personal profit detrimental to its reputation. A few 14K gold medallions are added for the personal collections of the astronauts.
For Apollo 11 in 1969, the drawing is prepared by Michael Collins. Robbins makes 450 silver sterling medallions that are all mission flown except for 10 that had been lost, plus 3 gold medallions, one for each astronaut.
The gold medallion awarded to Neil Armstrong followed him in the Lunar Module Eagle. Coming from his collection and graded MS 67 by NGC, it was sold for $ 2.05M on July 16, 2019 by Heritage, lot 50067 with an opening bid of $ 250K without reserve price. Please watch the video shared by NGC.
Collins's eagle ready to land in a plain of craters under earth light will be re-used for the federal coin of $ 1 between 1971 and 1978.
The scandal of Apollo 15 did not come from medallions but from philatelic envelopes.
The latest series of Fliteline medallions is for Apollo 1. Eight prototypes had been prepared before the cabin fire. As a tribute to his fallen comrades, Neil Armstrong took a gilt specimen with him to the Apollo 11 LM. Coming from his collection, it was sold for $ 275K by Heritage on November 1, 2018.
When the Apollo program restarted in 1968, NASA reorganized this prestigious operation. The design is generally made by the crew of the related mission. Until Apollo 10 the shape is free. The production is entrusted to Robbins Company, a supplier of badges for the FBI and of Olympic medals.
The sterling silver medallions are now serialized, probably because NASA fears that astronauts will derive a personal profit detrimental to its reputation. A few 14K gold medallions are added for the personal collections of the astronauts.
For Apollo 11 in 1969, the drawing is prepared by Michael Collins. Robbins makes 450 silver sterling medallions that are all mission flown except for 10 that had been lost, plus 3 gold medallions, one for each astronaut.
The gold medallion awarded to Neil Armstrong followed him in the Lunar Module Eagle. Coming from his collection and graded MS 67 by NGC, it was sold for $ 2.05M on July 16, 2019 by Heritage, lot 50067 with an opening bid of $ 250K without reserve price. Please watch the video shared by NGC.
Collins's eagle ready to land in a plain of craters under earth light will be re-used for the federal coin of $ 1 between 1971 and 1978.
The scandal of Apollo 15 did not come from medallions but from philatelic envelopes.
3
Extra Vehicular Activity Tapes
2019 SOLD for $ 1.82M by Sotheby's
On July 20, 1969 at 8:18 pm GMT, the LM Eagle lands on the Moon. 600 million people, representing 20% of the world's population, are waiting in front of their television or radio for the live broadcast of the first steps of man on the moon.
Armstrong descends to the Lunar surface at 2:56. One of his first actions is to start the Westinghouse camera. The first lunar live is perfectly working. Until his return to the LM two hours and a half later, the show is uninterrupted. It is also a considerable event in the history of audio-visual.
The audio is excellent. The sound exchanges between manned space vehicles and the Earth have always been vital, with no right for mistakes. The picture is disappointing. These two black and white bears jumping in their spacesuits are hardly believable. The beautiful color photos taken by Armstrong with a Hasselblad camera hanging on his chest will soon keep quiet the unbelievers.
The television images transmitted by the LM were rudimentary. A single radio channel had to manage both the telemetry data essential to the technical monitoring of the mission and the images of the astronauts. The result was a scan of 320 lines with a rate of 10 frames per second that was well below the threshold of retinal persistence, giving our two plantigrades a jerky motion effect.
Still worse. The protocol used for this transmission was not compatible with the broadcast networks of the television chains. The raw signal received in an observatory in Australia had to be transmitted in real time to Houston where it was converted into a professional television language, not without a significant degradation of sharpness.
To avoid the loss of images in case of transmission failure, the Australian observatory had to make several backup copies which were later delivered to NASA as scheduled.
In 2006 the Sydney Morning Herald is upset : the best motion pictures of man's first walk on the moon are lost. NASA confirms that the tapes have been erased for re-use on other missions. After the success of Apollo 11, no one was interested to them, perhaps because of the increasing difficulty of decoding old programs.
In June 1973 a student had bought for $ 217.77 in a NASA surplus auction a batch of 1,150 reels with their video tapes that he had then scattered for his profit. He had kept three boxes with a tag identifying the Apollo 11 EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity). Alerted by the desperate research of the NASA, he finds in 2008 a Californian laboratory competent to decode the tapes.
The former student had in his perfectly legal ownership a copy prepared in period by the NASA from the original signal. Never reused before 2008, the three tapes cover in succession all of the EVA. The honor of NASA is saved. A second reading is done two months later to load this very precious content into a hard drive compatible with modern computers.
The set of three tapes was sold for $ 1.82M from a lower estimate of $ 1M by Sotheby's on July 20, 2019, lot 104. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Armstrong descends to the Lunar surface at 2:56. One of his first actions is to start the Westinghouse camera. The first lunar live is perfectly working. Until his return to the LM two hours and a half later, the show is uninterrupted. It is also a considerable event in the history of audio-visual.
The audio is excellent. The sound exchanges between manned space vehicles and the Earth have always been vital, with no right for mistakes. The picture is disappointing. These two black and white bears jumping in their spacesuits are hardly believable. The beautiful color photos taken by Armstrong with a Hasselblad camera hanging on his chest will soon keep quiet the unbelievers.
The television images transmitted by the LM were rudimentary. A single radio channel had to manage both the telemetry data essential to the technical monitoring of the mission and the images of the astronauts. The result was a scan of 320 lines with a rate of 10 frames per second that was well below the threshold of retinal persistence, giving our two plantigrades a jerky motion effect.
Still worse. The protocol used for this transmission was not compatible with the broadcast networks of the television chains. The raw signal received in an observatory in Australia had to be transmitted in real time to Houston where it was converted into a professional television language, not without a significant degradation of sharpness.
To avoid the loss of images in case of transmission failure, the Australian observatory had to make several backup copies which were later delivered to NASA as scheduled.
In 2006 the Sydney Morning Herald is upset : the best motion pictures of man's first walk on the moon are lost. NASA confirms that the tapes have been erased for re-use on other missions. After the success of Apollo 11, no one was interested to them, perhaps because of the increasing difficulty of decoding old programs.
In June 1973 a student had bought for $ 217.77 in a NASA surplus auction a batch of 1,150 reels with their video tapes that he had then scattered for his profit. He had kept three boxes with a tag identifying the Apollo 11 EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity). Alerted by the desperate research of the NASA, he finds in 2008 a Californian laboratory competent to decode the tapes.
The former student had in his perfectly legal ownership a copy prepared in period by the NASA from the original signal. Never reused before 2008, the three tapes cover in succession all of the EVA. The honor of NASA is saved. A second reading is done two months later to load this very precious content into a hard drive compatible with modern computers.
The set of three tapes was sold for $ 1.82M from a lower estimate of $ 1M by Sotheby's on July 20, 2019, lot 104. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
4
Contingency Sample Bag
2017 SOLD for $ 1.8M by Sotheby's
Before Apollo 11 only the poets knew how to speak about the Moon. Nothing was known about its surface which was perhaps toxic.
Neil Armstrong reached the lunar ground on July 21, 1969 at 02:56:15 UTC. After his statement for the history, his very first activity was to observe the soil and to take small rocks and dust. The managers of the mission wanted to avoid that a later incident prevents this highly precious collection which was carried out before Aldrin descended from the LM to join him. He picked about 1 Kg of dust in 3 minutes 35 seconds in full view from a camera.
Armstrong keeps his specimens in a Contingency Sample Bag specially designed to protect users against unidentified hazards. The bag is made with a multi-layer insulating fiber named Beta cloth along with polyester and closed by a brass zipper. It was emptied during the return journey with a vacuum process that was not very effective since some lunar dust remained inside the bag.
Flight used artefacts from Apollo 11 are very rare in the art market except for a few astronaut-managed memorabilia. The Contingency Lunar Sample Return Outer Decontamination Bag in which Armstrong temporarily stored his first samples was sold for $ 1.8M by Sotheby's on July 20, 2017, lot 102.
The availability of this historic piece at auction is the result of a double negligence from the NASA. In the 1970s when the Agency provided the Smithsonian with what remained of the Apollo 11 mission, the absence of the bag was not identified. NASA also did not check in 2014 a private collection ready to be auctioned on request from the government after a fraudulent behavior of its owner, the former director of a space museum in Kansas.
Identified as "One flown zippered lunar sample return bag with lunar dust ("Lunar Bag"), 11.5 inches; Tear at center. Flown Mission Unknown" the bag was finally bought in March 2015 by an amateur geologist delighted with that opportunity. She opens the pouch, records the references, starts an online search and finds that what she bought for $ 995 is the very first bag to have contained lunar samples.
NASA confirms the authenticity as well as the lunar nature of the dust remaining in the bag. Upset with their own blunder they tried to recover the artefact but the auction had been guaranteed by the US Marshals Service. Two lawsuits confirmed the regular ownership by the bidder who now promises to give to various charities a portion of the proceeds of the sale which she is entrusting to Sotheby's.
The trade of Lunar material was still forbidden by NASA and the dust traces had been put away by them and reconditioned in SEM sampling aluminum stubs 10 mm each in diameter.
The NASA has lost a legal battle to keep these particles out of private hands. Five stubs, numbered 2 to 6, were returned to the winner of the 2015 auction. Their content was SEM tested and four of them were guaranteed as Apollo 11 Lunar material by NASA in February 2022. The five were sold together for $ 500K by Bonhams on April 13, 2022, lot 21. The number 1 is retained by NASA.
Neil Armstrong had described the dust as follows : "The surface is fine and powdery, I can kick it up loosely with my toe. It does adhere in fine layers, like powdered charcoal, to the sole and sides of my boots."
Neil Armstrong reached the lunar ground on July 21, 1969 at 02:56:15 UTC. After his statement for the history, his very first activity was to observe the soil and to take small rocks and dust. The managers of the mission wanted to avoid that a later incident prevents this highly precious collection which was carried out before Aldrin descended from the LM to join him. He picked about 1 Kg of dust in 3 minutes 35 seconds in full view from a camera.
Armstrong keeps his specimens in a Contingency Sample Bag specially designed to protect users against unidentified hazards. The bag is made with a multi-layer insulating fiber named Beta cloth along with polyester and closed by a brass zipper. It was emptied during the return journey with a vacuum process that was not very effective since some lunar dust remained inside the bag.
Flight used artefacts from Apollo 11 are very rare in the art market except for a few astronaut-managed memorabilia. The Contingency Lunar Sample Return Outer Decontamination Bag in which Armstrong temporarily stored his first samples was sold for $ 1.8M by Sotheby's on July 20, 2017, lot 102.
The availability of this historic piece at auction is the result of a double negligence from the NASA. In the 1970s when the Agency provided the Smithsonian with what remained of the Apollo 11 mission, the absence of the bag was not identified. NASA also did not check in 2014 a private collection ready to be auctioned on request from the government after a fraudulent behavior of its owner, the former director of a space museum in Kansas.
Identified as "One flown zippered lunar sample return bag with lunar dust ("Lunar Bag"), 11.5 inches; Tear at center. Flown Mission Unknown" the bag was finally bought in March 2015 by an amateur geologist delighted with that opportunity. She opens the pouch, records the references, starts an online search and finds that what she bought for $ 995 is the very first bag to have contained lunar samples.
NASA confirms the authenticity as well as the lunar nature of the dust remaining in the bag. Upset with their own blunder they tried to recover the artefact but the auction had been guaranteed by the US Marshals Service. Two lawsuits confirmed the regular ownership by the bidder who now promises to give to various charities a portion of the proceeds of the sale which she is entrusting to Sotheby's.
The trade of Lunar material was still forbidden by NASA and the dust traces had been put away by them and reconditioned in SEM sampling aluminum stubs 10 mm each in diameter.
The NASA has lost a legal battle to keep these particles out of private hands. Five stubs, numbered 2 to 6, were returned to the winner of the 2015 auction. Their content was SEM tested and four of them were guaranteed as Apollo 11 Lunar material by NASA in February 2022. The five were sold together for $ 500K by Bonhams on April 13, 2022, lot 21. The number 1 is retained by NASA.
Neil Armstrong had described the dust as follows : "The surface is fine and powdery, I can kick it up loosely with my toe. It does adhere in fine layers, like powdered charcoal, to the sole and sides of my boots."
1969 Omega Tribute to Astronauts
Intro
As a tribute to man's conquest of space "with time, through time, on time" in the wake of the successful moon landing of Apollo 11, Omega created in 1969 a special commemorative series of 28 Speedmaster Professional wristwatches for presentation to the NASA astronauts. This operation is identified as the Omega Tribute to Astronauts.
These 18k gold watches were based on the regular steel model. The inscriptions included the name of the astronaut and the identification of his space missions.
The Nos. 1 and 2 were offered to the US President and Vice President who both declined the gift. They were kept by the brand. The No. 3 was for Alan Shepard who had been the very first US astronaut in space and the No. 28 posthumously to Roger Chaffee, one of the three victims of the Apollo 1 disaster.
The commemorative watches were presented by Omega on November 25, 1969 at a special gala dinner in Houston attended by all the living recipients excepted the Apollo 12 crew then in quarantine and by the family of the deceased.
These 18k gold watches were based on the regular steel model. The inscriptions included the name of the astronaut and the identification of his space missions.
The Nos. 1 and 2 were offered to the US President and Vice President who both declined the gift. They were kept by the brand. The No. 3 was for Alan Shepard who had been the very first US astronaut in space and the No. 28 posthumously to Roger Chaffee, one of the three victims of the Apollo 1 disaster.
The commemorative watches were presented by Omega on November 25, 1969 at a special gala dinner in Houston attended by all the living recipients excepted the Apollo 12 crew then in quarantine and by the family of the deceased.
1
presented to Neil Armstrong
2025 SOLD for $ 2.13M by RR
The No. 17 attributed to Neil Armstrong was sold for $ 2.13M by RR Auction on April 17, 2025, lot 7000 with half of the hammer price to be donated to charities selected by the son of the late astronaut.
Armstrong had used to wear it on special occasions.
Armstrong had used to wear it on special occasions.
2
presented to Wally Schirra
2022 SOLD for $ 1.9M by RR
Walter M. Schirra was the fifth American astronaut to go into space, in the Mercury program. He was involved in the first three NASA manned programs, achieving with Gemini the first ever rendezvous of two spacecrafts in space and being the commander of the first successful crewed Apollo mission.
The commemorative watch No. 8 was awarded to Schirra. This solid 18k yellow gold watch was sold for $ 1.9M from a lower estimate of $ 250K by RR Auction on October 20, 2022, lot 7000. The lost original bezel had been replaced by a period correct Omega bezel.
Michael Collins flew on Gemini 10 and piloted the Apollo 11 command module around the Moon. He was awarded the No. 19 Omega watch soon after Apollo 11. He did not wore it often but maintained it in operating condition. This watch with a gold and applied gold dial was sold for $ 765K by Heritage on June 1, 2022, lot 54101.
The Omega watch No. 4 was attributed posthumously to Gus Grissom and presented to his family at the Houston gala in a special box with a personalized plaque. It is engraved with the reference to Grissom's successful flights on Mercury 4 and Gemini 3. Gemini 3 had been the first mission to wear the Omega Speedmaster as official equipment. Grissom had died in the Apollo 1 ground fire.
In terms of serial numbers produced for the astronauts, this watch is just next to the lowest number, the No. 3 of Alan Shepard, which passed at RR Auction on April 20, 2023, lot 9001.
The same 2023 sale also offered the No. 26 of Apollo 12's Alan Bean, sold for $ 300K, lot 9002. Bean, who had been the fourth moonwalker, had featured it extensively on his wrist. The Apollo 12 crew was still in quarantine at the time of the Houston gala.
The Apollo program continued. Omega made in 1972-1973 additional watches numbered 1001 to 1008 for the last eight Apollo astronauts. Harrison Schmitt refused the 1008. The 1007 awarded to Ron Evans after the final Apollo flight of 1972 was sold for $ 297K in the same 2023 sale as above, lot 9003. The 1002 was sold for $ 143K by RR on April 17, 2025, lot 7287, from the estate of the moonwalker Edgar Mitchell.
The numbers 33 to 1000 were made available to the public with a caseback commemorating Apollo 11.
The commemorative watch No. 8 was awarded to Schirra. This solid 18k yellow gold watch was sold for $ 1.9M from a lower estimate of $ 250K by RR Auction on October 20, 2022, lot 7000. The lost original bezel had been replaced by a period correct Omega bezel.
Michael Collins flew on Gemini 10 and piloted the Apollo 11 command module around the Moon. He was awarded the No. 19 Omega watch soon after Apollo 11. He did not wore it often but maintained it in operating condition. This watch with a gold and applied gold dial was sold for $ 765K by Heritage on June 1, 2022, lot 54101.
The Omega watch No. 4 was attributed posthumously to Gus Grissom and presented to his family at the Houston gala in a special box with a personalized plaque. It is engraved with the reference to Grissom's successful flights on Mercury 4 and Gemini 3. Gemini 3 had been the first mission to wear the Omega Speedmaster as official equipment. Grissom had died in the Apollo 1 ground fire.
In terms of serial numbers produced for the astronauts, this watch is just next to the lowest number, the No. 3 of Alan Shepard, which passed at RR Auction on April 20, 2023, lot 9001.
The same 2023 sale also offered the No. 26 of Apollo 12's Alan Bean, sold for $ 300K, lot 9002. Bean, who had been the fourth moonwalker, had featured it extensively on his wrist. The Apollo 12 crew was still in quarantine at the time of the Houston gala.
The Apollo program continued. Omega made in 1972-1973 additional watches numbered 1001 to 1008 for the last eight Apollo astronauts. Harrison Schmitt refused the 1008. The 1007 awarded to Ron Evans after the final Apollo flight of 1972 was sold for $ 297K in the same 2023 sale as above, lot 9003. The 1002 was sold for $ 143K by RR on April 17, 2025, lot 7287, from the estate of the moonwalker Edgar Mitchell.
The numbers 33 to 1000 were made available to the public with a caseback commemorating Apollo 11.
1970 Luna 16 Lunar Dust
2018 SOLD for $ 860K by Sotheby's
Facing their American competitors, the Soviets found a brilliant engineer to conceive and operate their space program. To ensure his protection, his identity will not be revealed until his untimely death in 1966 : Sergei Pavlovich Korolev.
Korolev was the manager of all the important projects : ballistic missiles, Sputnik which was the first spacecraft to orbite the Earth, the approach to the Moon by the robotic Luna probes, Vostok which first traveled a man in space, and the Soyuz space vehicle.
Luna made several great achievements : first impact on the Moon of a man-made spacecraft with Luna 2 in 1959, first photograph of the far side of the Moon in the same year by Luna 3, first soft landing by Luna 9 in 1966.
Luna 16 in 1970, Luna 20 in 1972 and Luna 24 in 1976 scratched the soil of the Moon and brought back some dust for a cumulative weight of 326 g. For comparison Apollo human missions carried 380 Kg of lunar rocks and dust on Earth.
As a tribute to Korolev, three tiny particles collected by Luna 16 were presented to his widow. They were encased together under glass below an adjustable lens. This set is the only example of lunar soil from the space programs that has ever been in private hands : samples kept by governments and their diplomatic gifts cannot be available for trade.
This lot was sold by Sotheby's for $ 440K on December 11, 1993 and for $ 860K on November 29, 2018, lot 63.
Korolev was the manager of all the important projects : ballistic missiles, Sputnik which was the first spacecraft to orbite the Earth, the approach to the Moon by the robotic Luna probes, Vostok which first traveled a man in space, and the Soyuz space vehicle.
Luna made several great achievements : first impact on the Moon of a man-made spacecraft with Luna 2 in 1959, first photograph of the far side of the Moon in the same year by Luna 3, first soft landing by Luna 9 in 1966.
Luna 16 in 1970, Luna 20 in 1972 and Luna 24 in 1976 scratched the soil of the Moon and brought back some dust for a cumulative weight of 326 g. For comparison Apollo human missions carried 380 Kg of lunar rocks and dust on Earth.
As a tribute to Korolev, three tiny particles collected by Luna 16 were presented to his widow. They were encased together under glass below an adjustable lens. This set is the only example of lunar soil from the space programs that has ever been in private hands : samples kept by governments and their diplomatic gifts cannot be available for trade.
This lot was sold by Sotheby's for $ 440K on December 11, 1993 and for $ 860K on November 29, 2018, lot 63.
1971 Apollo 15 Scott Bulova Watch
2015 SOLD for $ 1.62M by RR
Dave Scott was rightly concerned about the mastery of time. The official supplier of watches and chronometers to the Apollo program was Omega. For the Apollo 15 mission in 1971, Scott received permission from NASA to take two additional instruments, both of Bulova brand. Considering that it was a personal initiative of its commander, NASA did not record these instruments in the official list of equipment.
The stopwatch was used by Scott to provide a redundancy for controlling the operating time of the descent of the Lunar Module, specified to 24 seconds with a tolerance of only 0.3 second. Scott considered that the dial of his Bulova was easier to read in operation than the Omega instrument. It passed with an estimate of $ 120K at Bonhams on May 5, 2011.
The other instrument is a more classic chronograph that Scott carried on his wrist in the third and final moonwalk of the mission. The most spectacular feature of Apollo 15 was the first use of a motor vehicle on the moon, the Lunar Rover. In this tour that departed the astronauts up to 5 Km from the LM, an error in assessing the time could have caused a fatal lack of oxygen or of battery power.
This piece of equipment escaping the official mission is the only watch in private hands that has been used on the surface of the moon. It was sold for $ 1.62M on October 22, 2015 by RR Auction, lot 9001.
The stopwatch was used by Scott to provide a redundancy for controlling the operating time of the descent of the Lunar Module, specified to 24 seconds with a tolerance of only 0.3 second. Scott considered that the dial of his Bulova was easier to read in operation than the Omega instrument. It passed with an estimate of $ 120K at Bonhams on May 5, 2011.
The other instrument is a more classic chronograph that Scott carried on his wrist in the third and final moonwalk of the mission. The most spectacular feature of Apollo 15 was the first use of a motor vehicle on the moon, the Lunar Rover. In this tour that departed the astronauts up to 5 Km from the LM, an error in assessing the time could have caused a fatal lack of oxygen or of battery power.
This piece of equipment escaping the official mission is the only watch in private hands that has been used on the surface of the moon. It was sold for $ 1.62M on October 22, 2015 by RR Auction, lot 9001.
1977 The Space Stations
2014 SOLD for € 1M before fees by Lempertz
Lunar exploration was a feat worth to excite the public and to push the development of new technologies. The political impact was huge but the Moon brought nothing economically nor for Earth observation.
The era of the space stations succeeded the lunar adventure. The Soviets had not challenged the Americans on the Lunar project, but they also did not take a technological backwardness. The programs Skylab and Salyut were developed simultaneously.
The concept of a permanent orbiting laboratory that can be occupied by a crew was new and so was the technique of transferring capsules for their mooring to the station and subsequent come back to Earth.
Some Salyut stations were made for military use. It was the Almaz program, on which very limited information was published at that time.
On May 7, 2014, Lempertz sold for € 1M before fees from a lower estimate of € 700K a VA capsule (Vozvraschaemyi Apparat) used in the Almaz program. The auction result is reported by Artnet.
The capsule is 2.20 m high and 2.80 m in larger diameter weighing 1.9 tons. It could transport three cosmonauts or unmanned heavy equipment.
Sent into space in 1977 and 1978, this unit was arguably the first spacecraft that was reused. It was confirmed before sale that its two missions were unmanned. At that time NASA began developing their space shuttle.
The era of the space stations succeeded the lunar adventure. The Soviets had not challenged the Americans on the Lunar project, but they also did not take a technological backwardness. The programs Skylab and Salyut were developed simultaneously.
The concept of a permanent orbiting laboratory that can be occupied by a crew was new and so was the technique of transferring capsules for their mooring to the station and subsequent come back to Earth.
Some Salyut stations were made for military use. It was the Almaz program, on which very limited information was published at that time.
On May 7, 2014, Lempertz sold for € 1M before fees from a lower estimate of € 700K a VA capsule (Vozvraschaemyi Apparat) used in the Almaz program. The auction result is reported by Artnet.
The capsule is 2.20 m high and 2.80 m in larger diameter weighing 1.9 tons. It could transport three cosmonauts or unmanned heavy equipment.
Sent into space in 1977 and 1978, this unit was arguably the first spacecraft that was reused. It was confirmed before sale that its two missions were unmanned. At that time NASA began developing their space shuttle.
