Space History

Space History auctions focus on space exploration from the early days of Project Mercury and Vostok through the Gemini missions, the historic Apollo moon landings, Soyuz, Skylab, ASTP, and beyond.

The auctions feature photographs, flight plan sheets, Robbins medallions, models, patches, emblems, flags, lunar surface equipment and other hardware, much of it flown and often signed and inscribed by astronauts and cosmonauts such as Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Yuri Gagarin.

The sales take place annually in New York, and highlights have included Armstrong's "One Small Step for a Man" signed quotation ($150,000), the Apollo 11 lunar surface star chart ($218,000) and Leonov's 1975 ASTP space suit ($240,000). Bonhams is a market leader in this rapidly growing field.

Highlights from past auctions

Sold for US$ 84,100 inc. premium
LOVELL'S MOST EXTENSIVE BURN NOTES. Flown on Apollo 13, LM-7 Contingency Checklist, page 30.
Sold for US$ 55,000 inc. premium
PUISEUX, PIERRE HENRI, AND MAURICE LOEWY. 4 large-format quadrants of the Moon, from the Paris Observatory, 1899,
Sold for US$ 40,000 inc. premium
PASSEMANT, CLAUDE-SIMEON. 1702-1769. A 6-inch reflecting telescope with speculum metal mirror, France, c.1750,
Sold for US$ 37,500 inc. premium
LUNAR ORBITER V. Telephoto panorama from Censorinus to Littrow, August 6, 1967,