One small step for man: Neil Armstrong’s boot sold for $49,000 as part of an out of this world ‘space auction’
- The prototype Apollo A7L lunar boot never went to the moon with Armstrong
- It likely was used in a previous flight or as a backup for previous missions
- It is embroidered with ‘Armstrong’ on the tongue and is silver, gold and blue
- Total cost of the auction was $110,000 (£87,000) and included a Soviet space suit, signed picture of Armstrong and a series of Apollo 11 engineer’s manuals
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A boot worn by Neil Armstrong has sold for $49,000 (£38,000) as part of an auction of space memorabilia.
The prototype Apollo A7L lunar boot never went to the moon with the astronaut but it is believed it was used in a different flight or served as a backup.
It is embroidered with ‘Armstrong’ on the inside of the tongue and has a silver, gold and blue exterior.
Parts of the shoe are believed to have been re-purposed by the designers and used on other NASA items.
A host of other items also sold at the auction including a Soviet space suit, a signed picture of Neil Armstrong and a series of Apollo 11 engineer’s manuals.
The total cost of the auction was $110,000 (£87,000).
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The prototype Apollo A7L lunar boot never went to the moon with the astronaut but it is thought it would have been used in a primary flight or served as a backup (pictured)
This space boot prototype worn by Neil Armstrong sold for $49,000 (£38,000) as part of an auction of space memorabilia in Boston, Massachusetts
The pieces went under the hammer in Boston, Massachusetts, and concluded last week.
Bobby Livingston, Executive VP at RR Auction, said: ‘It’s a rare artefact that offers unique insight into the intensive design and quality assurance placed upon the very boot worn by Armstrong over the course of his quarter-of-a-million-mile journey to become the first human being to set foot on the moon.’
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The Apollo 11 mission allowed the first people to touch the moon on 20 July 1969.
The capsule landed on the Sea of Tranquillity, carrying mission commander Neil Armstrong and pilots Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.
Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the lunar surface while Collins remained in orbit around the moon.
When Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon, he said, ‘That’s one small step for (a) man; one giant leap for mankind.’
It is embroidered with ‘Armstrong’ on the inside of the tongue and has a silver, gold and blue exterior (pictured)
A signed copy of ‘Apollo: Ten Years of Tranquillity’ (pictured) went for $3,900 (£3,100). The Apollo 11 mission allowed the first people to touch the moon on 20 July 1969. The capsule landed on the Sea of Tranquillity, carrying mission commander Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong signed photograph fetched $4,200 (£3,300) at auction (pictured). The pioneering astronaut died in 2012, in Cincinnati, Ohio, aged 82
A collection of 52 Space Shuttle Robbins medallions (pictured) that honour space shuttles and expeditions missions, sold for a whopping $19,500 (£15,400)
NASA space-flown Apollo medallions (pictured)were mission-specific commemorative medallions were approved by NASA and carried aboard the mission spacecraft into orbit. Commemorative medallions were prepared for the astronauts at their request
An original 1970s Soviet Sokol-K space suit with the flag of the USSR on the shoulder and Salyut program patch on the breast also featured and sold for $9,800 (£7,700).
It was designed to be a ‘rescue suit’ and was built to keep the wearer alive in the event of accidental depressurisation in the spacecraft.
A collection of 52 Space Shuttle Robbins medallions that honour space shuttles and expeditions missions, sold for $19,500 (£15,400).
A series of Apollo 11 engineer’s manuals sold for $9,800 (£7,700) while a signed photograph of Neil Armstrong fetched $4,200 (£3,300) and a signed copy of ‘Apollo: Ten Years of Tranquillity’ went for $3,900 (£3,100).
A series of Apollo 11 engineer’s manuals sold for $9,800 (£7,700) (pictured). These would have been instrumental in providing support to the astronauts on their trip to the moon
These Apollo 11 manuals helped Armstrong reach the moon. When Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon, he said, ‘That’s one small step for (a) man; one giant leap for mankind’
A host of other items sold at the auction including a Soviet space suit (pictured), a signed picture of Neil Armstrong and a series of Apollo 11 engineer’s manuals. The total cost of the auction was $110,000 (£87,000)
WHAT WAS THE APOLLO PROGRAM?
NASA photo taken on July 16, 1969 shows the huge, 363-foot tall Apollo 11 Spacecraft 107/Lunar Module S/Saturn 506) space vehicle launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39. Kennedy Space Center (KSC), at 9:32 a.m. (EDT).
Apollo was the NASA programme that launched in 1961 and got man on the moon.
The first four flights tested the equipment for the Apollo Program and six of the other seven flights managed to land on the moon.
The first manned mission to the moon was Apollo 8 which circled around it on Christmas Eve in 1968 but did not land.
The crew of Apollo 9 spent ten days orbiting Earth and completed the first manned flight of the lunar module – the section of the Apollo rocket that would later land Neil Armstrong on the Moon.
The Apollo 11 mission was the first on to land on the moon on 20 July 1969.
The capsule landed on the Sea of Tranquillity, carrying mission commander Neil Armstrong and pilots Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.
Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the lunar surface while Collins remained in orbit around the moon.
When Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon, he said, ‘That’s one small step for (a) man; one giant leap for mankind.’
Apollo 12 landed later that year on 19 November on the Ocean of Storms, writes NASA.
Apollo 13 was to be the third mission to land on the moon, but just under 56 hours into flight, an oxygen tank explosion forced the crew to cancel the lunar landing and move into the Aquarius lunar module to return back to Earth.
Apollo 15 was the ninth manned lunar mission in the Apollo space program, and considered at the time the most successful manned space flight up to that moment because of its long duration and greater emphasis on scientific exploration than had been possible on previous missions.
The last Apollo moon landing happened in 1972 after a total of 12 astronauts had touched down on the lunar surface.
Astronaut Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin unpacking experiments from the Lunar Module on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Photographed by Neil Armstrong, 20 July 1969
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