To celebrate the 47th anniversary of the first time man landed on the moon, astronauts, cosmonauts and rocket engineers of the great space race are having a giant yard sale next month– also known as the Bonhams annual Space History Auction. Even if I wasn’t the type of kid that went to space camp and I definitely didn’t pay enough attention in high school physics class,
From Apollo 13 flight plans to Soviet rocket engines, even if you haven’t got a clue what some of this stuff does, a lot of the items look like works of art, never mind having been part of the most significant accomplishments in mankind’s history. The provenance for most of the lot items are listed as cosmonauts, NASA Apollo pilots, ground crew and engineers.
It was only four years ago that President Obama signed into law a bill clarifying the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo crew members have “full ownership of and clear title to” any expendable item used in their missions, and furthermore that the Federal Government will have “no claim of ownership” to artifacts that have subsequently been sold, traded, or gifted by the astronauts. Partly as a result of this legislation, this years’ sale is full of some of the most exciting material to have come to the market
