27/07/2022
๐๐ฎ๐ณ๐ณ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง'๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ค๐๐ญ ๐ ๐๐ฅผ
The jacket worn by retired astronaut Buzz Aldrin when he set foot on the moon sold for a record-breaking price of $2,772,500 on Tuesday, less than a week after the landing's 53rd anniversary.
The in-flight coverall jacket features the historic Apollo 11 mission emblem and "E. Aldrin" for his full first name, Edwin. It is made of a fireproof, tightly woven silica fiber called Beta Cloth used in the production of Apollo spaceflight suits.
The jacket was part of a trove of personal memorabilia and historic NASA items from his career and was expected to fetch up to $2 million. The garment was bid on for nearly 10 minutes, according to Sotheby's. It is the only flown garment from the Apollo 11 mission in private hands -- the jackets worn by fellow crew members Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins are both now housed at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
The 92-year-old Aldrin became the second person to ever set foot on the moon in 1969, following crewmate Armstrong.
Among the other items sold were flight plans from Apollo 11, including a complete summary of the mission, which sold for $819,000, over five times its high estimate, as well as a summary of the touchdown of the lunar module Eagle, which sold for $327,600, over six times its high estimate. The collection also included a fire extinguisher flown aboard the lunar module, several medals of service including a Congressional Gold Medal presented to Aldrin in 2011, and a famed MTV Video Music Award "moonman" statuette whose likeness was based on Aldrin.