The jacket worn by American astronaut Buzz Aldrin during his flight to the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969 sold on Tuesday at an auction in New York for $2.7 million, Sotheby’s said.
This white jacket, on which we distinguish the American flag, NASA and Apollo 11 mission acronyms, and the name “E. ALDRIN” was part of a personal collection of items that the astronaut, now 92, decided to put up for sale.
“This exceptionally rare piece of clothing was claimed by several bidders for nearly ten minutes before it was sold to a buyer over the phone,” Sotheby’s said in a statement.
“After careful consideration, it seemed to me that the time had come to share with the world these objects, which for many are symbols of a historical moment, but which for me have always remained personal memories of a life devoted to science and research. Buzz Aldrin, the last of the three astronauts on the Apollo 11 mission, said when the sale was announced.
In total, $8.2 million was sold at auctions for 68 lots out of 69 offered, including $819,000 for the flight plan summary.
In the listing catalog, Buzz Aldrin indicated that the jacket for sale is different from the spacesuit he wore when he descended to the lunar surface with Neil Armstrong, but that he wore it for three days of flight and a three-day return trip aboard the spacecraft.” Apollo 11″.
The suits worn by Armstrong and Aldrin on the moon are part of the collections of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.