By Christine Kiernan
(Reuters) – Auction house Sotheby’s New York will shoot for the moon next week as it auctions off the personal collection of American astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
The ‘Buzz Aldrin: American Icon’ sale will take place on July 26. Among the highlights is an in-flight jacket that Aldrin wore on the 1969 Apollo 11 Moon landing mission, which has a sales estimate of around $1 million to $2 million.
“This is an incredibly rare thing,” said Sotheby’s Global Head of Science and Popular Culture, Cassandra Hatton, adding that it was the only flown garment from the Apollo 11 mission available to be purchased.
Another top lot is a pen that the Apollo 11 crew used to repair a broken circuit breaker switch, saving their lives. Its estimate stands at $1 million to $2 million as well.
The collection also includes awards, medals and letters from the astronaut’s life.
“I can say with no hesitation that it is the best space exploration sale to have ever happened, and there will not be another that will be better than this,” Hatton said.
A separate sale will follow on July 27, titled ‘Meteorites: Select Specimens from the Moon, Mars, Vesta and More.’
That sale will feature the end piece of a lunar meteorite that Sotheby’s says is the second most massive piece of the Moon on Earth.
(Reporting by Christine Kiernan, Editing by Josie Kao)
