Neil Armstrong’s personal moon collection to be auctioned

Collecting artifacts from moon and bringing them to Earth was one of the things the first man to walk on moon Neil Armstrong did. Now years after, those space collections are up for auction for the public.

Armstrong, the first man to step on the moon, took along various things with him including US flag, a UN flag, the original camera and more. Now, Armstrong’s personal collection is up for a series of auction beginning November 1 to November 2 and continuing in May and November 2019 in his home state of Ohio where bids can be offered online, by phone or in person.

According to ABC News, Armstrong’s collection consists of various artifacts from his 1969 lunar landing and private mementos consisting of pieces of a wing and propeller from the 1903 Wright Brothers Flyer that Armstrong took along with him to the moon.

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Apart from US and UN flag, Armstrong also took along different state flags and several rare medallions available only to astronauts. His Boy Scout cap and a centennial flag from Armstrong’s alma mater, Purdue University, which he took with him on Apollo 11, the spaceflight that landed him on moon, are also up for the auction, reported Engadget.

Armstrong’s son, Mark Armstrong informed that his father never really talked to him about what he wanted to be done with all those items. “I don’t think he spent much time thinking about it. He did save all the items, so he obviously felt they were worth saving.”

Years after Armstrong’s death in 2012, Mark, along with his brother Rick, decided to honor their father’s legacy and wanted those artifacts to be properly identified. “We felt like the number of people that could help us identify them and give us the historical context was diminishing and that the problem of understanding that context would only get worse over time,” exclaimed Mark.

Greg Rohan, president of Heritage Auctions, responsible for Armstrong’s auction explained that things connected with space have a universal appeal, “Space is one of the very, very few categories that every single person seems to be interested in. You show somebody something from the space program, and they are fascinated by it.”