back to article Armstrong's moon-purse set for $4m bid-off

The bag Neil Armstrong used to carry home lunar samples from the Apollo 11 mission could fetch up to $4m at auction next month. Auction house Sotheby's says the bag, which carried a half-kilo of material from the Moon to Earth, is one of the few artifacts from the mission that can be purchased by members of the general public …

  1. Winkypop Silver badge
    Flame

    One owner, only used on a Sunday

    Many miles though...

    July 20, 1969 = Sunday

  2. Drew Scott

    Cheque, please....

  3. Dave 126 Silver badge

    Moon dust - nasty stuff.

    I enjoyed the following podcast from the public Australian broadcaster ABC:

    http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/chinese-missions-to-study-lunar-dust/8425898

    "The dust is like fine sand, but with sharp edges. Despite being the biggest environmental hazard, organisers of the Apollo missions took little account of the dust. It was a real problem causing batteries to overheat. It pierced space suits, and clogged equipment. The Chinese have already deployed 3 robotic missions to the Moon. Brian O’Brien, a professor of space science who helped astronauts prepared for the Apollo missions says the Chang’e 3 rover Yutu which landed in 2013 moved 100m on its first day, but hasn’t moved since, due to the effects of lunar dust. Studies of lunar dust will now be a priority for future"

    The IT angle is that Prof O'Brien had to dig out his old computer tapes of the data from his lunar experiments cos NASA had lost theirs.

    1. John Mangan

      RE: "Moon dust - nasty stuff."

      Arthur C. clarke - A Fall of Moondust.

      I think I'm due a re-read.

  4. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

    "... was instead lumped into a lot of items the US Marshall's service set for auction in 2015."

    Wait, what? And was Jack Carter involved in any way?

  5. User McUser

    the (by now empty) lunar sample bag

    Oh, I bet there are a few specs of lunar regolith somewhere in there. Anyone who's ever taken a bag or backpack to the beach knows that you'll be cleaning the sand out of it forever.

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