Microscopic pieces of the moon found in a bag used to protect the moon sample collected by an astronaut on his way to the sale after it was released from the property. or NASA.
Bonhams announced Monday (March 28) that its purchase of Space History will be “the first lunar specimen collected by man.” The lottery will provide five scanning electron microscope (SEM) aluminum sample stubs, four of which are said to be elevated by fragments from the first lunar sample that Neil Armstrong collected shortly after he became a human. first to go on the moon in July 1969.
NASA’s specimens of the moon’s soil were used to determine if the bag – or contingency sample return container decontamination bag – flew on the Apollo 11 mission after it was sold at a market. national auction in 2015. The winner of the sale, Nancy Lee Carlson, and the U.S. government, the bag was reported to be Carlson’s property.
A later legal dispute, decided out of court, ended with NASA turning the tests over to Carlson, after he sold the lunar solar bag at a 2017 retail store for $ 1,812,500.
Now, Bonhams expects to sell the small units from Tranquility Base for $ 800,000 to $ 1.2 million when they are sold on April 13 in New York.
Apollo 11: First humans on the moon
“It’s an interesting story,” Adam Stackhouse, the Bonhams engineer who oversaw the delivery of the lunar models, said in an interview with collectSPACE.com. “I tried not to just look at Nancy’s story that got dirty.
Stackhouse is founded on the history of specimens and the fact that they were associated with the earliest images of lunar beings by an astronaut stationed on the moon.
“This model is intended to provide a small amount of lunar space to return to Earth if the missionary’s skin layer needs to be removed in the first place,” Bonhams said in a NASA announcement, explaining. measuring where the pieces now began to be sold.
The so -called “contingency sample” consisted of 492 grams (17.35 ounces) of material that was better than 1 centimeter (0.4 inch), and 12 pieces of rock that were larger than 1 cm, all of which is deposited in the NASA property. Bonhams did not give the full weight for the pieces lifted from the decontamination bag, but measurements taken during the studio’s contract review found that each was only microns in size. this point.
“I think if you can see it’s not in the models,” Stackhouse said. “I think if it’s in the bag you’ll see it again. That’s what I think. On the black carbon ribbon, you see the carbon ribbon.”
Lunar legacy: 45 Apollo moon mission images
Despite their small size, Stackhouse said the lunar models are different, in relation to the Apollo 11 mission and their titles are backed up by a series of resolutions that establish they are not NASA property. The center maintains an Apollo-recovered lunar National Treasure and is not for personal use, except for recorded astronaut mementos sealed with moon dust and two groups of earth-loving gifts.
“If it hadn’t gone to something like this, it probably wouldn’t have been on sale,” Stackhouse told collectSPACE, referring to the court cases. “It’s kind of an independent situation. I don’t know how to do this again.”
In addition to the lunar episodes, the Bonhams sale includes 20 space histories, including a rocket that launched the world’s first satellite.
The 9.5-inch and 1.4-inch (24 to 3.6 cm) piece of aluminum was removed from an oxygen tank by Soviet-era cosmonaut Georgy Grechko, the young engineer involved in the launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite in October. . 4, 1957, and received the first landing of the R7 rocket after it crashed to Earth.
It was described as the only piece seen in private hands, the maker from the first day of the Space Age was expected to sell for $ 80,000 to $ 120,000.
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