Sotheby’s sold American astronaut Buzz Aldrin’s in-flight jacket that Aldrin wore on the 1969 Apollo 11 mission for a record-breaking $2.8 million in New York on Tuesday (July 26).
The bidding went on for nearly 10 minutes before a bidder on the phone won the coveted jacket.
“This is an incredibly rare thing,” said Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s Global Head of Science and Popular Culture. “That makes this the only flown garment from the Apollo 11 mission that is available to be purchased.”
The collection also includes awards, metals, and letters from the astronaut’s life.
“Of any space auction, at Sotheby’s or anywhere else, this is the best collection period,” Hatton said. “This is directly from Buzz (Aldrin). The provenance is absolutely stellar, if you’ll excuse the pun. I can say with no hesitation that it is the best space exploration sale to have ever happened, and there will not be another that will be better than this.”
(Reuters)