By 
July 17th, 2019
Credit: Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s third annual Space Exploration auction will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing.
The live auction begins in New York on July 20, 2019 at 9:00 AM MDT.
The sale is highlighted by the earliest, sharpest and most accurate surviving video images of man’s first steps on the moon: the only surviving original first-generation NASA recording of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. At a combined runtime of 2 hours and 24 minutes, the recording captures everything, from the historic moment that Commander Neil Armstrong became the first human to step foot on another world, to the “long distance phone call” with then-President Richard Nixon of the United States, to the planting of the American flag.
Videotape
Three metal reels (each 10 1/2 in. diameter) of Ampex 148 High Band 2-inch Quadruplex videotape, the tapes with video of the Apollo 11 lunar EVA recorded on July 20, 1969 at Mission Control, Manned Spaceflight Center, Houston, Texas, directly from narrow-band slow scan videotape converted to NTSC for network broadcast using Ampex VR-2000 video recorders.
Credit: Sotheby’s
The three tapes with running times of 45:04, 49:00, and 50:15 minutes, respectively, covering virtually the entire period of the EVA and including about 9 minutes at the beginning of reel 1 of Mission Control waiting for the lunar-surface camera to be deployed; the audio quality of all of the tapes is excellent. Each reel of videotape is housed in its original red-and-black manufacturer’s box with hinged lid (11 3/8 x 11 3/8 x 2 3/4 in.), the boxes also with printed adhesive labels reading “APOLLO 11 EVA | July 20, 1969.
Impressive collection
The sale also features a wide variety of material from the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions, featuring direct consignments from astronauts including: Apollo 9 Lunar Module Pilot Russell Schweickart, Apollo 11 Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 13 Mission Commander James Lovell, and the Estate of Apollo 16 Mission Commander John Young.
Credit: Sotheby’s
The sale also offers an impressive collection of flown mission artifacts, the finest single owner collection of flown Robbins medallions, early contractor’s models, spacesuits, photography, charts and much more.
To view the catalog, go to:
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