Astronaut Buzz Aldrin’s iconic flight-to-moon jacket auctioned for USD 2.8 million
The world recognises Neil Armstrong as the first man ever to have landed on moon on 20th July 1969, the event that changed the history of space travel. But little do they know that this distinction is not really fair, as two other astronauts, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins were part of the same mission, Apollo 11, and had immediately followed Armstrong on the lunar surface.
Now, Aldrin, 92, is the only alive member of the three-men crew that landed on moon in 1969. Recently, he had put up 69 of his personal memorabilia for sale including his famous flight-to-moon jacket. And guess what, it was sold at a New York auction for a whooping USD 2.8 million.
Buzz Aldrin’s space jacket at a glance
The historical value of Buzz Aldrin’s space jacket will always remain unparalleled. The white in-flight jacket is adorned with the archetypal NASA logo as well as the Apollo 11’s emblem in the front, alongside Aldrin’s customised name tag. There is also the United States flag on the jacket’s left shoulder. As for the material, this custom-designed Coverall Jacket is made of beta cloth, that is popular for its fire-resistant quality and is also Teflon-coated.
Aldrin had spent majority of his six-day journey by wearing this in-flight space jacket and had only changed out of it into a pressure suit while landing on the lunar surface. He had spent the next 21 hours on the moon with his crew in the suit, but once he was back on the Apollo 11 spacecraft, he didn’t wait a moment to change into the in-flight jacket, which, he felt, was more comfortable.
What all were up for auction?
In case you are wondering, Buzz Aldrin’s historic flight-to-moon jacket was handled at the said auction by a company named Sotheby’s. According to the officials, the jacket once again made history by becoming the most valuable piece of space-flown artifact ever sold at an auction. What’s more, the space jacket was also the only piece of memorabilia ever sold from the famous Apollo 11 mission. Sources cite that the bidding for the jacket lasted only for 10 minutes, until it was finally sold to an unidentified caller over the phone. The other belongings up for auction included a broken circuit breaker switch and a black felt-tip pen that was used to fix it, the flight plan that had travelled to the moon and back with the crew. The plan was sold at USD 819,000. Other than such souvenirs from the Apollo 11 mission, the auction also sold the famous “Go Army, Beat Navy” banner that Aldrin exhibited during his much-talked about Gemini XII spacewalk. Aldrin also parted ways with his revered Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction that he had received as an honour, right after the Apollo 11 mission. The total amount fetched at the auction was worth USD 8.2 million.