We did not go to the Moon for Fun

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

On July 16 in New York, Bonhams celebrates the fortieth anniversary of Apollo 11 through an auction devoted to space exploration.

The progression within the missions of the Apollo project was the most exciting sequence of innovations in the history of technological developments. Here are these steps:
Apollo 7, October 1968, the first Apollo flight.
Apollo 8, December 1968, Lunar orbit flight.
Apollo 9, March 1969, Lunar Module test around the Earth.
Apollo 10, May 1969, Lunar Module test around the Moon.
Apollo 11, July 1969 Moon landing and walk on the Moon.

These successes required a military organization and discipline. This is illustrated with the book of instructions used by Charles M. Duke in his extravehicular walks on the moon during the Apollo 16 mission in April 1972. All he had to do was indicated, including the instructions in the event of an accident in his spacesuit.

It is composed of 29 sheets of 9 cm square, printed on plastic and spiral bound. They were attached to the wrist of the suit by a Velcro strip 45 cm long. This book has been contaminated by Lunar dust when the astronaut turned the pages with his glove. This remarkable characteristic allows now to expect K $ 200.

[Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa]

I will follow this auction.
Krishna

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

The Bonhams sale, such as those previously made by Heritage, creates a new market sector. Top lots and values of the objects are not stabilized.

The Apollo 16 checklist book did not meet its estimate. It was sold 170 K$ before fees (206 K$ premium included). In light of my comment above, I consider that it is both a very good auction result and a very good deal for the buyer.