Apollo 11

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Pulled From Apollo 13, He Turned Sadness Into Heroism

Ken Mattingly, who assisted in rescuing his fellow astronauts, died Tuesday at 87

(Newser) - Seventy-two hours before liftoff, astronaut Ken "TK" Mattingly was pulled from Apollo 13. "There has never been anything in Shakespeare or any other publication that could throw a fit or feel sorry for yourself like I did," the astronaut, who'd been exposed to German measles, later...

His $217 Auction Find Sells for $1.8M
His $217 Auction Find
Sells for $1.8M

His $217 Auction Find Sells for $1.8M

Gary George says farewell to original moon landing tapes

(Newser) - Gary George was an intern at NASA's Johnson Space Center when he bought 1,150 reels of magnetic tape belonging to the agency at a government surplus auction in 1976. The $217.77 purchase certainly paid off. Included were three tapes representing the "earliest, sharpest, and most accurate...

4 Things Armstrong and Aldrin Left Behind

Some of it is nice (messages of hope!), some not so much (human waste)

(Newser) - When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin departed the moon, they left more than 100 things behind. In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing this weekend, Florida Today has a list of seven of the most interesting. A sampling:
  • Tributes: A patch from the Apollo 1
...

Neil Armstrong's Spacecraft ID Fetches $465K

Memorabilia auction made $7.4M

(Newser) - Memorabilia that belonged to the first man to set foot on the moon has fetched more than $7.4 million at auction. Dallas-based Heritage Auctions says the item that sold for the highest price, $468,500, was Neil Armstrong's spacecraft ID plate from Apollo 11's lunar module Eagle....

The Lunar Rocks Vanished. He Has Found All but 2

Rocks scooped up by Neil Armstrong were given to all 50 states

(Newser) - A strange thing happened after Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 crew returned from the moon with lunar rocks: Many of the mementos given to every US state vanished. Now, after years of sleuthing, a former NASA investigator is closing in on his goal of locating the whereabouts of all...

Travel Alert: Moon Dirt May Be Hazardous to Your Health

Researchers found that simulated lunar dust killed human lung cells

(Newser) - Spending time on the moon just got a little more complicated. A new study has found that lunar soil is extremely toxic and that even small amounts of lunar dirt could be damaging to lungs, reports Popular Mechanics . Astronauts on the Apollo missions first noticed problems with space dust when...

Buzz Aldrin Recalls 'Iconic' Moon Landing Photo

'It was very spontaneous'

(Newser) - It's "one of the most iconic pictures of the 20th century," according to Mashable . And on Thursday—the 48th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing—Buzz Aldrin took to Twitter to give a small behind-the-scenes glimpse of how it happened. "It was very spontaneous,"...

Thanks to NASA Inventory Error, Illinois Woman $1.8M Richer

Seller acquired moon dust bag, auctioned Thursday, for just $995

(Newser) - One small inventory error has led to a giant payday for Illinois woman Nancy Lee Carlson. A moon dust collection bag that Carlson bought for just $995 in an online government auction in 2015 sold for $1.8 million at a Sotheby's auction in New York Thursday, the BBC...

Bag of Moon Dust That NASA Lost Could Fetch $4M
NASA's Goof Could Mean $4M
Windfall for Illinois Woman
in case you missed it

NASA's Goof Could Mean $4M Windfall for Illinois Woman

Bag from Apollo 11 will be auctioned July 20, ending the drama

(Newser) - Only one man was able to be the very first to walk on the moon. Now, an auction that's just as singular. On July 20, Sotheby's will auction a bag containing traces of moon dust, which a Chicago-area woman picked up for $995 and which is expected to...

NASA Loses Fight Over Priceless Bag of Moon Dust

Illinois woman official owner of Apollo 11 space bag

(Newser) - At first glance, the round, white bag looks unremarkable, even a little battered, with a lengthy tear on the bottom, reports the Houston Chronicle . But it's now the official gem of Nancy Lee Carlson's collection of space memorabilia. After a yearlong legal battle , a judge ruled that the...

Priceless Space Artifact Accidentally Sold at Government Auction

It's now the center of a legal fight

(Newser) - A priceless bag used during the first moon walk was accidentally sold at a government auction, and is now the center of a legal dispute, the AP reports. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin tucked moon rocks into the white sack they took with them during the Apollo 11 mission in...

Buzz Aldrin's Moon Walk Cost Him $33

The former astronaut has been tweeting old documents

(Newser) - After the Apollo 11 crew got done taking their steps and leaps on the moon, they had a few hoops to jump through back on Earth—specifically, customs and a 21-day quarantine to be sure they weren't carrying any unknown pathogens. This and more is coming to light now...

Smithsonian Launches $500K Kickstarter for Famous Suit

They'll leave lunar dust on Neil Armstrong's moonwalk getup, though

(Newser) - "Reboot the Suit" is the slogan for the Smithsonian Institution's new campaign to restore Neil Armstrong's famous moonwalk spacesuit—and the museum group has launched its first-ever Kickstarter campaign to reach its $500,000 goal, Smithsonian reports. Funds raised will go toward conserving the spacesuit so it...

Neil Armstrong Brought Back 'Purse' From the Moon

Full of 'odds and ends' from Apollo 11

(Newser) - After Neil Armstrong's death, his widow, Carol, found something unexpected in a closet: a white bag full of parts from the Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle. The spacecraft parts were originally thought to have been left on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission, the New York Daily News...

For Sale: Neil Armstrong's Moon Heartbeat

EKG shows he remained calm during descent

(Newser) - A unique piece of space memorabilia is hitting the auction block later this month—the first heartbeat on the moon. The electrocardiogram taken as Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon is among 85 Apollo 11-related items being auctioned, including the joystick used to control the module's landing, PC ...

Apollo 11 Engines Pulled From Ocean Floor

Jeff Bezos-funded operation recovers 2 of 5 engines

(Newser) - A year after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos discovered the debris of five Apollo 11 engines , he's recovered two of the massive F-1 engines from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, reports USA Today . The twisted, rusted remains were brought up from 14,000 feet below the surface, but they'...

NASA Fires Up Apollo-Era Engine to Learn Old Tricks

Unit from late 1960s taken out of storage for tests

(Newser) - A vintage rocket engine built to blast the first US lunar mission into Earth's orbit more than 40 years ago is again rumbling across the Southern landscape. The engine, known to NASA engineers as No. F-6049, was supposed to help propel Apollo 11 into orbit in 1969, when NASA...

America Bids Farewell to Neil Armstrong

First man on moon praised at DC memorial service

(Newser) - Astronauts, politicians, and members of the public crowded Washington National Cathedral yesterday to say a final farewell to Neil Armstrong, who will be buried at sea today. "He's now slipped the bonds of Earth once again, but what a legacy he left," former Treasury Secretary John Snow...

Neil Armstrong Dead at 82
 Neil Armstrong 
 Dead at 82 

Neil Armstrong Dead at 82

Astronaut was first man to walk on the moon

(Newser) - Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon and possibly the most famous astronaut in history, died today at age 82, NBC News reports. He had undergone heart surgery just a few weeks ago. Armstrong led the Apollo 11 team that reached the moon on July 20, 1969,...

NASA Flags Still Upright on Moon

...except for Apollo 11's banner

(Newser) - Decades later, America's mark on the moon remains: All but one of the flags left by the Apollo missions are still flying. Scientists reviewed photos taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, sent to study the moon in 2009. The images show shadows revolving throughout the day around the flags'...

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