An anonymous bidder is now the proud owner of a bag of moon dust. A bag used by Neil Armstrong to bring back the first samples of rocks from the moon has sold for more than one-point-eight million dollars at Sotheby's in New York.
The auction coincided with the 48th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The bag was seized by U.S. Marshals from a Kansas museum manager who was convicted of stealing it in 2014. It was then sold to an Illinois woman in an online government auction two years ago for just 995-dollars. The winning bid was actually below two-million dollars+ that had been predicted.
According to Sotheby's, Carlson will use part of the proceeds from the auction to fund therapy charities, medical research and establish a scholarship fund at her alma mater.
- Interestingly, the auction may not have happened. After Nancy Carlson scored her “dust pouch” back in 2014, she sent it to NASA for testing. When she did, the space agency didn’t want to give it back. In the court case that followed, NASA said it should be displayed, while Carlson said it was rightfully hers. The judge agreed.
Source: NPR