Space history: Bonhams memorabilia auction + Start space collecting + Smithsonian’s Apollo 11 collection & 3D model

Bonhams in New York City held a “Space History” auction on Wednesday: The space auction where a Sputnik model goes for $269,000 – The Verge (lots of pictures included)

More than 280 items were for sale at Bonhams; all told, they racked up a combined total of $1,315,063. Among the most expensive items was a set of 15 gold-colored plaster casts of the right hand of 15 NASA astronauts, including those of Neil Armstrong and the ubiquitous Buzz Aldrin. The casts, which sold for $155,000, were used to make perfectly fitting space suit gloves in 1967. A flown space suit worn in 2003 by Don Pettit aboard the Soyuz TMA-1, following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, sold for $62,500.

Sputnik1Model — A full scale vintage test model of the Sputnik-1 satellite, serial number “OKб-1/003/1957”, with live transmitter (still operational, with a new 12v battery). Polished metal sphere with 4 external antennae, approx 23 inches in diameter on manganese brass stand with anti-static o-ring, stand approx 4 feet 9 inches tall, stand and model together approx 6 feet 6 inches tall, and approx 100 lbs. Produced at the OKб-1[OKB-1], the Experimental Design Bureau-1 factory, also known as the S. P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, in 1957 sometime prior to the launch of the Sputnik-1… Continue

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This article discusses not just the Bonham auction but space memorabilia collecting in general: Buying Space Memorabilia Can Be Cheaper Than You’d Think – WIRED

Still, [Robert Pearlman of collectSpace.com] says, it doesn’t have to be an expensive hobby. “You don’t need to be able to afford anything more than a stamp,” he says, to send NASA a request for an astronaut autograph. “Bonhams represents a very specific audience. Their bid amounts and their valuations are high—not unheard of and not unwarranted for what they’re auctioning. But for under $100, you could build a very respectable collection.”

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The Smithsonian Air & Space Museum is currently displaying a collection of Apollo 11 related artifacts: Smithsonian debuts Neil Armstrong gloves on display, reveals Apollo 11 3D model – collectSPACE.

Check out the new interactive 3D model of the Apollo 11 capsule here. This video is about the making of the digital model of the capsule: