Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956
The detailed manual used by U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to land on the moon in 1969 is going up for auction in July and could fetch up to $9 million, New York auctioneers Christie's said on Wednesday.
The 44-page ring-bound Apollo 11 lunar module timeline book details every procedure that was needed to undock, land and rendezvous the Eagle with its Columbia command module when Armstrong and Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon.
"These are step-by-step instructions that cover the entire portion of the Eagle flight. It is a series of instructions on everything from 'don your helmets' to 'check your power system,'" Christina Geiger, head of books and manuscripts at Christie's, told Reuters.
Along with technical data, the book, which was carried aboard the Eagle, contains drawings and almost 150 check marks and annotations written in real time by Armstrong and Aldrin.
Since there was no audio or video recording of what happened in the cockpit of the Eagle, the manual is regarded as a unique witness to space history. It also marks the first writing by a human being on another celestial body.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bob_super on Tuesday May 07 2019, @12:18AM (9 children)
"Its place is in a museum !"
Anything related to the moon landings got paid by your tax dollars. Why is this in private hands ?
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 07 2019, @12:20AM
Same reason #CrookedHillary isn't in jail... loopholes.
(Score: 4, Touché) by Mykl on Tuesday May 07 2019, @12:44AM (1 child)
What are you, some sort of Communist? It's every American politician's right to privatise government activity and personally profit in the process. After all, why else would anyone get into government?
(Score: 0, Redundant) by realDonaldTrump on Tuesday May 07 2019, @12:55AM
To Make America Great Again. That's what's happening. And that's a slogan that I'm very proud of. That was a slogan that seemed to have worked. I tell you what, it was very special. And it's so accurate. Even more so than America First. You know, America First is very threatening to others. From this moment on, it's going to be America First. And, Keep America Great. Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign "affairs," will be made to benefit American workers and American families. Winning!!
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Tuesday May 07 2019, @01:25AM
You're already +5 so I'll post this to my vote behind your sentiment.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 07 2019, @01:35AM
Same reason the first steamer dropped on the moon isn't: Some things weren't considered important enough to conserve, apparently.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday May 07 2019, @01:36AM (1 child)
Probably not. How old are you? At the time of the moon landing, I probably hadn't yet paid more than ten dollars in sales taxes. I certainly hadn't paid a penny in income tax yet, or social security, or anything else.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday May 07 2019, @04:13PM
You're on a roll, recently.
Did your parents and grandparents dodge taxes, too ?
Some of the money you would inherit went to pay for the Moon missions.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 07 2019, @03:55AM
Such an item should be in the Smithsonian, not auctioned off to .... (anonymous international bidder).
(Score: 1) by ankh on Tuesday May 07 2019, @09:57PM
Yep. Your tax dollars, hijacked by the bidding process.