Moon Dust, collected by Neil Armstrong in 1969, and how it ends up at auction – Evening Edition Ouest-France

New York auction house Bonhams is auctioning off dust from the moon collected by American astronaut Neil Armstrong during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission. The estimated value of these five models depends on astronomy: from $ 800,000 to $ 1.2 million!

Clearly, on the Apollo 11 mission நிலா 1969 will forever be engraved in the marble of space history. First, because of the American Neil Armstrong The first man to set foot on lunar soil, but only because he brought the soil back.

Five models

Five of these models were put up for auction in New York on Wednesday, April 13, 2022. Bonham’s house. The value of these few grams of moon dust fluctuates between $ 800,000 and $ 1.2 million (between 738,000 and 1,107,000). “The only model of the Apollo mission can be sold legally,” Bonhams explains on its website. Unique opportunity to own a small part of the moon. ⁇

Dust grains deposited on a carbon ribbon about 10 mm in diameter can be seen under a microscope. “During the Apollo 11 mission, NASA’s primary mission was to collect samples from the moon.” Recalled the auction house.

Armstrong’s spacecraft landed on the moon on July 20, 1969. The next day, the astronaut collected the equivalent of one kilogram of dust from the lunar soil, which he put in a bag. NASAAmerican Space Agency.

This is Neil Armstrong’s first extra vehicle trip. A set, which he has disobeyed the orders of his work, the site reports New factory Quoting the book First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong : “Armstrong was very determined to take a few pictures, he failed to take the emergency lunar dust sample, which is the highest priority he has to do first if something goes wrong.”

New target

At the NASA site, we learn that one kilogram of lunar dust that was finally collected was then placed in another cleaning bag. Over time, the bag was reportedly misplaced by NASA, ending up in the personal collection of a former custodian. Cosmosphere Museum Hutchinson, located in Kansas (USA). New twist: This former supervisor has been accused of selling pieces illegally from the museum. Eventually the bag is confiscated and sold at auction to pay compensation.

The lucky buyer then analyzed the bag by NASA, which confirmed that it actually came from the Apollo 11 mission … After inspection, the space agency decided to put some of the recovered dust inside before being forced by the court. Five of the six recovered samples must be returned to its owner.

This few grams of lunar dust has already traveled a lot. What will be their new target at the end of this auction?