NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin's Apollo 11 jacket up for auction; expected to fetch Rs 7-14 cr

The New York-based auction company Sotheby’s has put up NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin’s belongings for an auction scheduled for July 26. Titled "Buzz Aldrin: American Icon", the sale will auction off a lot that includes Aldrin’s jacket that he wore during the historic Apollo 11 mission in 1969.

A Duro-brand ink marker and the broken nib off a circuit breaker switch along with a cloth banner featuring the text “Go Army Beat Navy” and complete Apollo 11 documents would also go under the hammer. It is the same cloth which Aldrin carried with him during his spacewalk during the 1966 Gemini 12 mission.

Aldrin's jacket expected to fetch $1 million to $2 million

The jacket being sold by the auction company is what Aldrin wore when he was not wearing the spacesuit during the Apollo 11 Moon mission. According to Space.com, it is expected to fetch between $1 million to $2 million (Rs7.9 to Rs15.8 crore) besides the cloth, which according to Sotheby's would bring in $20,000 to $30,000 (Rs 15.8 lakh to Rs 23.7 lakh). Notably, the spacesuits worn by Aldrin and his crewmates-- Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins-- have been preserved at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, leaving Aldrin's jacket the only garment that could be owned privately. 

(Aldrin's Apollo 11 jacket; Image: Sotheby's)

The other object going for sale is the broken nib off a circuit breaker switch, which is said to have nearly destroyed the mission. The circuit breaker on the Eagle lunar module, the spacecraft which helped Aldrin and Armstrong land on the Moon, broke during the mission blocking the way to ignite the spacecraft's engine. That is when Aldrin inserted his pen inside the broken circuit, which ignited the Eagle's engine and enabled the spacecraft to dock with the Columbia module in the lunar orbit with collins inside. 

(Aldrin with the pen and broken circuit nib from Eagle spacecraft; Image: Twitter/@BuzzAldrin)

Owing to the life-saving role they played, the broken nib and the felt tip pen are also expected to bag around $1 to $2 million at the auctions. Interestingly, the auction will be conducted during the Moon landing week, when Aldrin and Armstrong stepped foot on the Moon 53 years ago on July 21 (1:42 am IST). Currently, Aldrin is the only surviving member of the Apollo 11 crew, as Armstrong passed away in 2012 followed by Collins in 2021.