NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s will present Space Exploration, a New York auction tracing the history of human exploration beyond planet Earth. Taking place on 20 July, the 48th anniversary of the first moon landing by Apollo 11, the sale, led by the bag used by Neil Armstrong to first samples of the moon ever collected, features the personal story of the first man in space, and documentation relied upon to bring Apollo 13 back down to Earth. Open for public exhibition from 13 July at Sotheby’s New York headquarters, the auction will inspire explorers of all ages and backgrounds.

The auction opens with a series of photographs, first by pioneers in the field of lunar photography and later by five unmanned spacecrafts launched by NASA, taken between the mid-1850s and late 1960s. Documenting both the nearside and mysterious far side of the moon, the Lunar Orbiter images were significant in identifying and strategizing future moon landings, which would take place just a couple of years later. An oversize view of the crater Aristarchus, photographed on 18 August 1967, is a prime example of the lunar photography available, and is only one of two known copies (estimate $100/125,000).

Cosmonaut and USSR citizen Yuri Gagarin made history in 1961 when he, aboard Spaceship-Sputnik ‘Vostok’, successfully circumnavigated the Earth before returning to ground. Records File on the First Flight by the USSR citizen Cosmonaut Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin Made on April 12, 1961 on Spaceship-Sputnik “Vostok” – the official English-language report of the first human journey into outer space, evidently prepared for submission to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale – carefully documents this profound journey and is being offered with a pre-sale estimate of $50/80,000, 21 years after it made its auction debut at Sotheby’s New York in March 1996.

The United States of America followed with its own impressive feat with the Gemini project, which helped pave the way for the historic moonwalks of the Apollo missions. A Thermal Coverlayer for a Gemini G1C Spacesuit made for Gus Grissom by the David Clark Company circa 1962 symbolized the importance of this objective and the demands placed upon the astronauts to ensure its success (estimate $40/60,000). Keeping versatility, health, safety and comfort in mind, this specially made suit was formerly in the collection of the National Air & Space Museum.

For many, Apollo 11 is the apex of space exploration. Sotheby’s July auction includes a diversity of objects associated with this series of missions, led by a Flown Apollo 11 Contingency Lunar Sample Return Outer Decontamination Bag. Nearly all of the equipment from this historic mission is housed in the US National Collection at the Smithsonian – making this the only such artifact available for private ownership (estimate $2/4 million).

Also critical to the Apollo 11 mission was the Apollo 11 Flown Flight Plan, and this sale features two different sheets from the flight plan, including one which contains extensive mission notes by both Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on their last full day in space prior to their planned return to Earth (estimate $25/35,000). Originally from the collection of Apollo 11 Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin, it is accompanied by a letter from Aldrin which reads in part, “the Flight Plan was the single most important document related to the success of our mission”. An iconic moment from this moon landing – of Buzz Aldrin at Tranquility Base – is also being offered this July in the form of a large color photograph measuring 15 3/4 x 20 inches. Signed and inscribed by Buzz Aldrin, the work has been estimated at $3/5,000.

The Flown Apollo 13 Flight Plan is yet another momentous marker of human history and achievement (estimate $30/40,000). Signed and inscribed by Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise, and signed by Mission Commander Jim Lovell and Command Module Pilot Jack Swigert, the document is a remarkable recording of the actions taken by the crew, including the changes following the explosion. Also featuring caricatures and notations for and by the astronauts, the manuscript is an incredible eye-witness account of the most dramatic mission of the Apollo program with a personal touch.