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Forum:	Auctions - Reviews & Results
Topic:	[Sotheby's] Apollo 11 50th sales (July 2019)

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Your Reply: HTML is ON UBB Code is ON Smilies Legend	[QUOTE]Originally posted by apollo16uvc: [B]So this set of tapes is different from the one used for the restoration? This means there are two 2-inch Quadruplex sources. This means it is possible to achieve the highest quality restoration in history by overlaying the two sources. From the reference still seen in the video, the quality is better than the one used by NASA. This should increase sharpness and clarity and decrease noise and wow/flutter. It may even be possible to increase the framerate by interleaving the frames. Someone has done this before with colour video and 16mm film. Hopefully the 10 bit video will be put online, so it can be combined with the other (unenhanced) source. The fact that NASA does not have these tapes means they really don't care. It will be up to us to produce the highest quality restoration to date.[/B][/QUOTE]
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<table border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="600"><TR><td bgcolor="#000000"><TABLE BORDER=0 cellpadding=4 border=0 cellspacing=1 WIDTH="100%"><TR bgcolor="#660000"><TD COLSPAN=2><CENTER>T O P I C     R E V I E W</CENTER></TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#494949"><TD valign=top>Robert Pearlman</TD><TD>Sotheby's release <blockquote>Sotheby's Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon LandingWith Auctions Dedicated to Space Exploration and Omega Speedmaster WatchesSotheby's New York is delighted to announce two auctions to be held this July in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing. "Omega Speedmaster: To the Moon and Back" on July 19 will offer a selection of incredible Speedmaster watches – the official watch of NASA since 1965. "Space Exploration" on July 20 will feature extensive material related to the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions, including flown mission artifacts and hardware. Exhibitions for both auctions will be free and open to the public beginning 15 July in Sotheby's New York galleries.Space Exploration Auction July 20Sotheby's latest Space Exploration auction will feature a wide variety of material from the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions, featuring direct consignments from astronauts including: Apollo 13 Mission Commander James Lovell; Apollo 9 Lunar Module Pilot Russell Schweickart; and the Estate of John Young, who enjoyed the longest career of any astronaut. The sale also offers an impressive collection of flown mission artifacts and hardware, the finest single owner collection of flown Robbins medallions, early contractor's models, spacesuits, maps, charts and much more.<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2019/omega-watches-n10093.html?locale=en" target="AirLock">Omega Speedmaster: To the Moon and Back</a> Auction July 19 Omega Speedmaster: To the Moon and Back will celebrate one of the most iconic sports watches ever to come to market, which was a leading choice of astronauts for more than five decades. Before sending any objects into space, NASA performs extensive testing to ensure that anything aboard a space flight will withstand the rigors of unpredictable environments. In 1965, NASA sought to find a watch properly provisioned for human spaceflight. Three watches were chosen to undergo months of testing. Omega is the only brand whose watch passed all ten tests, rendering the Speedmaster model as the official watch of NASA. The iconic watch has been bestowed upon the wrists of astronauts ever since – including all six lunar landings – and has fittingly been dubbed the "Moonwatch." For decades, the Speedmaster has signified the kind of quality and reliability that has made it the only designated timepiece fit to wear on the moon.</blockquote></TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#333333"><TD valign=top>Robert Pearlman</TD><TD>Sotheby's release <blockquote>Sotheby's Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing With an Auction Dedicated to Space ExplorationSotheby's is delighted to present our third-annual Space Exploration auction in New York on 20 July 2019 – the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing.The sale will feature a wide variety of material from the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions, featuring direct consignments from astronauts including: Apollo 13 Mission Commander James Lovell; Apollo 9 Lunar Module Pilot Russell Schweickart; and the Estate of John Young, who enjoyed the longest career of any astronaut. The sale also offers an impressive collection of flown mission artifacts and hardware, the finest single owner collection of flown Robbins medallions, early contractor's models, spacesuits, maps, charts and much more.Exhibitions will open to the public on 15 July alongside Omega Speedmaster: To the Moon and Back – an auction dedicated to the official watch of NASA.Auction Highlights<center><a href="http://www.collectspace.com/review/sothebys_apollo11_50th_sale01-lg.jpg" target="AirLock"><img src="http://www.collectspace.com/review/sothebys_apollo11_50th_sale01.jpg" width="400" height="291" border="0"></a><a href="http://www.collectspace.com/review/sothebys_apollo11_50th_sale02-lg.jpg" target="AirLock"><img src="http://www.collectspace.com/review/sothebys_apollo11_50th_sale02.jpg" width="400" height="298" border="0"></a></center>The sale is led by a collection of 20 original Apollo Firing Room Control Panels from the Kennedy Space Center Firing Room 1, which launched 7 Apollo missions carried by the Saturn V rocket, including the three most historic: Apollo 8 (first humans to orbit the moon), Apollo 11 (first humans to land on the moon), and Apollo 17 (last humans to land on the moon), as well as Apollo 4 (unmanned), 13, 15 and 16 (estimate $200/300,000).The collection consists of: Seven Monitoring Console Panels, used to display information pertaining to countdown and launch sequence events; two panels from the Instrument Unit, which contained the guidance and monitoring equipment for the rocket while it was in flight; five console panels for the S- IC, the first stage of the Saturn V Rocket; two console panels for the S-II, the second stage of the Saturn V; four console panels for the S-IVB, the third stage of the Saturn V.<center><a href="http://www.collectspace.com/review/sothebys_apollo11_50th_sale03-lg.jpg" target="AirLock"><img src="http://www.collectspace.com/review/sothebys_apollo11_50th_sale03.jpg" width="400" height="446" border="0"></a></center>Another highlight is the Flown Apollo 11 Boost Cover Release Port Label, which was salvaged from the Crew Access Hatch of Command Module "Columbia" (estimate $125/150,000). The Apollo 11 spacecraft was made up of three parts; Command Module 107 (nicknamed the "Columbia"), the Service Module and Lunar Module 5 (nicknamed the "Eagle"), but the "Columbia" was the only part of the spacecraft to return to Earth intact. The module re-entered Earth's atmosphere on July 24th, 1969, splashing into the North Pacific Ocean and along with its crew – Mission Commander Neil Armstrong, Lunar Module Pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Command Module Pilot Michael Collins – was safely recovered by the USS Hornet. The Boost Cover Release Port Label was salvaged during the deactivation and decontamination of the "Columbia" when it was stripped of its protective Kapton foil and outer labels.<center><a href="http://www.collectspace.com/review/sothebys_apollo11_50th_sale04-lg.jpg" target="AirLock"><img src="http://www.collectspace.com/review/sothebys_apollo11_50th_sale04.jpg" width="400" height="436" border="0"></a></center>The first mission in the manned lunar landing program, Apollo 1, was scheduled to launch on February 21st, 1967, from the Cape Kennedy Air Force Station Launch 34 Complex in Florida, carrying as its crew Command Pilot Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Senior Pilot Ed White, and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee. Tragedy struck during a launch rehearsal test on January 27th when a cabin fire killed all three crew members and destroyed the Command Module. Roger Chaffee's Helmet & Glove Stowage Cover was not onboard during the test launch and is the only known piece of his spacesuit to not be destroyed in the disaster (estimate $125/150,000). The white, nylon helmet and glove stowage bag has a front Velcro strap embroidered with "R.B. CHAFFEE" on the exterior and contains an interior label that reads: "Bag, Helmet-Glove, Stowage/ Nasa Designation ASB-1C / Mfg. David Clark Company Inc. / P/N A-2011-000 Ser. No. 120 / November 1966." (estimate $125/150,000).A naval officer, aviator, and aeronautical engineer, Roger Chaffee (1935-1967) was selected to be part of NASA astronaut group 3 and went on to serve as capcom for Gemini 3 and Gemini 4. Apollo 1 was his first spaceflight assignment and he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.<center><a href="http://www.collectspace.com/review/sothebys_apollo11_50th_sale05-lg.jpg" target="AirLock"><img src="http://www.collectspace.com/review/sothebys_apollo11_50th_sale05.jpg" width="400" height="571" border="0"></a></center>Originally from the Collection of Apollo 11 Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin, a flown Apollo 11 Checklist Sheet used on the lunar surface features steps that were performed just minutes before Neil Armstrong descended the ladder on Lunar Module Eagle's front landing strut, becoming the first man to set foot on the moon. A vital document to the success of the mission, the checklist contains space suit preparations, removal of the PLSS (Portable Life Support Systems, or "back-packs") from storage, and securing the PLSS to the spacesuits. Carrying an estimate of $40/60,000, the sheet is signed by Buzz Aldrin and inscribed with "Carried in Eagle to the Lunar Surface on Apollo Xi. Buzz Aldrin."<center><a href="http://www.collectspace.com/review/sothebys_apollo11_50th_sale06-lg.jpg" target="AirLock"><img src="http://www.collectspace.com/review/sothebys_apollo11_50th_sale06.jpg" width="400" height="526" border="0"></a></center>During the Apollo 16 mission, Lunar Module Pilot Charlie Duke and Mission Commander John Young conducted three EVAs (Extra- Vehicular Activity, or moonwalks), spending just over 20 hours on the lunar surface. The EVAs included three traverses in the Lunar Rover, during which they deployed 9 different experiments, photographed the lunar surface, and collected lunar samples from 11 different sites. An Apollo 16 Lunar Surface Map accompanied the astronauts on these expeditions of the Descartes Highlands and was to be used as their primary navigation instrument should the Lunar Rover become inoperative (estimate $30/50,000).Illustrating the topographical lunar surface overlaid with a grid, the map marks the LM landing site, flag plant site, "Turtle Mountain", "Palmetto", "Lone Star", "Eden Valley", "Merriam", and "Survey Ridge" among others. Originally from Charlie Duke's personal collection, the map is signed and inscribed "This Map Was Flown to the Lunar Surface by the Crew of Apollo 16. It Was Used to Navigate During the Evas at Descartes on the Cayley Plain. Charlie Duke. Apollo XVI."<center><a href="http://www.collectspace.com/review/sothebys_apollo11_50th_sale07-lg.jpg" target="AirLock"><img src="http://www.collectspace.com/review/sothebys_apollo11_50th_sale07.jpg" width="400" height="458" border="0"></a><a href="http://www.collectspace.com/review/sothebys_apollo11_50th_sale08-lg.jpg" target="AirLock"><img src="http://www.collectspace.com/review/sothebys_apollo11_50th_sale08.jpg" width="400" height="471" border="0"></a></center>On offer in the sale is a group of Six American Passports issued to Neil Armstrong from 1954 to 1979, including his Special Passport, used while going through astronaut training and when conducting official business abroad for NASA, as well as his Diplomatic Passport (below right), used for special diplomatic missions for the President of the United States (estimate $30/50,000). The passports demonstrate one of the many ways that becoming an astronaut changed Armstrong's life, as he was required to travel extensively, visiting nearly every country in South America as well as Europe, South Africa, Canada, Australia, and the Philippines.<center><a href="http://www.collectspace.com/review/sothebys_apollo11_50th_sale09-lg.jpg" target="AirLock"><img src="http://www.collectspace.com/review/sothebys_apollo11_50th_sale09.jpg" width="400" height="505" border="0"></a></center>The sale features a unique presentation piece from the Apollo 11 Crew gifted to Terry Slezak – a Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) Technician assigned to the Crew Reception Area (CRA) of the Lunar Receiving Lab (LRL) – who became in the course of his duties following the return of Apollo 11, the first man to touch moon dust with his bare hands (estimate $50/70,000).Included in the presentation are: the metal "Mag. S" label, taken from the Lunar Surface Hasselblad 70 mm Film Magazine, which was used by Neil Armstrong while he was on the lunar surface exploring Tranquility Base (Armstrong subsequently dropped it onto the surface of the moon thus soiling it with moondust); an autograph manuscript written by Buzz Aldrin while on the lunar surface, and signed "Buzz", describing the contents of the film magazines, and identifying "Mag. S" as being "The most important Lunar Surface EVA film"; a piece of Skin from the Apollo 11 Command Module "Columbia"; and vintage photographs of Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon, Slezak holding the Hasselblad film "Mag. S" in one hand, showing his other hand stained with moondust, and Slezak in quarantine with the Hasselblad film "Mag. S" in his hand, with Buzz's autograph manuscript note visible in the background. The display is signed and inscribed in Neil Armstrong's hand: "To Terry Slezak - / A 'Dirty' Photographer/ With Best Wishes/ Neil Armstrong", signed "Buzz Aldrin" and signed and inscribed "Many Thanks - / Michael Collins."</blockquote></TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#494949"><TD valign=top>Ianhetho</TD><TD>The Terry Slezak presentation shown looks to be the one made famous by Florian Noller with his moon dust presentations. Obviously the piece of tape with the dust is missing from the piece but it's still an interesting item.I would love to have it but it looks like a high estimate.</TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#333333"><TD valign=top>thisismills</TD><TD>An earlier photo of the presentation with lunar dust still attached can be seen here:<center><img src="http://www.collectspace.com/images/news-100901b.jpg"></center></TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#494949"><TD valign=top>rgarner</TD><TD>Sotheby's <A HREF="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2019/space-exploration?locale" TARGET=_blank>pre-bidding is active</A>. I’ve got my bids in!</TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#333333"><TD valign=top>denali414</TD><TD>Some real nice contractor models — albeit a bit pricey...</TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#494949"><TD valign=top>Robert Pearlman</TD><TD>Sotheby's release <blockquote>Sotheby's to Offer The Best Surviving NASA Videotape Recordings of the Apollo 11 Moon LandingThis July, Sotheby's will offer the earliest, sharpest, and most accurate surviving video images of man's first steps on the moon: three original NASA videotape recordings of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. Unrestored, unenhanced, and unremastered, the significance of the videotapes was recognized during NASA's fruitless search at the time of the 40th anniversary of the lunar landing for its original SSTV recordings.<center><a href="http://www.collectspace.com/review/sothebys_apollo11_50th_sale10-lg.jpg" target="AirLock"><img src="http://www.collectspace.com/review/sothebys_apollo11_50th_sale10.jpg" width="400" height="289" border="0"></a></center>The tapes will headline our auction dedicated to <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2019/space-n10096.html?locale=en" target="AirLock">Space Exploration</a> on 20 July in New York – the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing – when they are estimated to sell for $1/2 million. At a combined run time of 2 hours and 24 minutes, they capture everything from Neil Armstrong's declaration: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind," marking the historic moment the first human set foot on another world, to the "long distance phone call" with the President of the United States, and the planting of the American flag. The Space Exploration auction will open for public exhibition on 13 July alongside, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2019/omega-speedmaster-to-the-moon-and-back" target="AirLock">Omega Speedmaster: To the Moon and Back</a> – an auction dedicated to the official watch of NASA. The present videotapes are the only surviving first-generation recordings of the historic moon walk, and are sharper and more distinct than the few tapes that have survived from the contemporary network television broadcasts – all of which endured some loss of video and audio quality with each successive transmission from microwave tower to microwave tower. Viewed only three times since June 1976 (perhaps the only times since they were first recorded late in the evening on 20 July 1969 at NASA's Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas), the three reels of 2-inch Quadruplex videotape transport viewers to the big screen monitor at Mission Control, which displayed clearer images with better contrast than those that the more than half-billion-person television audience witnessed that momentous July day on their home sets. Home viewers watched video that had been transmitted over a 1,600-mile relay of microwave transmission towers to the major television networks in New York City, with each transfer causing a bit of deterioration to the picture quality. In contrast, Mission Control saw the same video that is on these 2-inch Quadruplex videotapes: moving pictures sent directly to Houston from closed circuit TV transmissions from the lunar surface beamed to 64-meter-diameter radio telescopes at the Parkes and Honeysuckle Creek Observatories in New South Wales and Canberra, Australia, respectively, and NASA's own similar-sized antenna in Goldstone, California. Cassandra Hatton, Vice President & Senior Specialist in Sotheby's Books & Manuscripts Department, commented: "The successful lunar landing of Apollo 11 captured the world's attention 50 years ago, uniting us in a collective belief in the unlimited potential of mankind. From neighbors gathered around a television set to the cosmonauts in Star City and the astronauts and engineers in Houston, this was a unique event in history that people from all walks remember with excitement and positivity. And what we universally recall about that event is best documented on these tapes – a glorious moment that united the people of earth in peace, as witnesses to mankind's greatest achievement." This direct transmission originated from a Westinghouse TV camera that NASA had commissioned specifically to transmit images back to Earth from the lunar surface. Since the camera had to be deployed before Armstrong and Aldrin exited the Lunar Module (LM) if it was truly going to capture their first steps on the surface of the moon, the camera was stowed in a shock-proof and insulated mount on the LM's Modularized Equipment Stowage Assembly (MESA). Armstrong released the MESA when he first peered out of the LM, so that the camera would be in position to capture his slow descent down the ladder and onto the lunar surface. The two astronauts later removed the camera from the LM and mounted it on a tripod to capture a wider view of the LM and their activities and experiments. The Westinghouse lunar-surface camera shot ten frames per second, using only one-tenth of the bandwidth of the 30-frames-per-second format then standard for television broadcasts (known as NTSC). The transmissions to Earth began when Buzz Aldrin engaged the Westinghouse camera circuit breaker. While the crew was prepared to deploy an erectable S-Band antenna to facilitate transmission, that proved unnecessary: since they landed in alignment with the receivers at Honeysuckle Creek and Goldstone, they were able to transmit the video directly back to Earth using an adjustable high-gain antenna on the Lunar Module. The high-resolution TV images received at the Parkes Observatory were recorded onto a total of forty-five large diameter reels of narrow-band slow scan (SSTV) videotape. The images were simultaneously transmitted from Australia to NASA Mission Control in Houston, where they were converted to NTSC for network broadcast, and recorded using Ampex VR-660B video recorders onto 2-inch wide reel-to-reel Quadruplex videotape, including the present videotapes on offer. The videotapes will be offered from the collection of Gary George, the man responsible for salvaging and safeguarding them for the past 43 years. As an engineering student at Lamar University, George was awarded a cooperative work internship at the NASA Johnson Space Center in June of 1973. During his internship, he would occasionally attend government surplus auctions, and in June 1976, at an auction at Houston's Ellington Air Force Base, he purchased, for a bid of $217.77, a single lot consisting of some 1,150 reels of magnetic tape whose "Owning Agency Or Reporting Office" was NASA. Among the reels were about sixty-five boxes of 2-inch, reel-to-reel videotapes of the type used by television stations. A new reel of Ampex tape cost about $260 at that time, and since the tapes could be re-recorded, George purchased the lot with the intention of selling the used — but still usable — tapes to local TV stations.<center><iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GawisYvAcgY" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen>

After selling some of the tapes and donating others to Lamar University and a local church, George's father noticed that in addition to the manufacturer's labelling, three of the boxes had smaller typewritten labels identifying them as "APOLLO 11 EVA | July 20, 1969 REEL 1 [–3]" and "VR2000 525 Hi Band 15 ips." Thinking that these particular tapes may be worth hanging on to, George saved the three boxes, giving them little thought until early 2008 when he learned that NASA was attempting to locate its original slow scan videotapes of the Apollo 11 EVA (Extravehicular Activity) in anticipation of the 40th anniversary of the first manned moon landing.

At this point the tapes were now vintage, compelling George to seek the assistance of the DC Video studio, which owned equipment capable of playing the videotapes. In October 2008, George's videotapes were played at DC Video, very possibly for the first time since they had been recorded. Miraculously, the tapes were in faultless condition, displaying a picture quality superior to any other existing contemporary videotapes. In December 2008, his tapes were played for a second time since he bought them in 1976 and were digitized directly to 10-bit uncompressed files, retaining their original 525 SD4/3 specifications and downloaded onto a one terabyte hard drive (which is included as a part of the sale of these three reels of videotape). This was the last time these reel-to-reel videotapes were played until Sotheby's specialists viewed them in order to confirm their quality for this auction.

As for NASA, the agency abandoned its search after concluding that the forty-five reels of SSTV high-resolution recordings of the Apollo 11 EVA had been erased and recorded over and any duplicate 2-inch Quadruplex videotape recorded by NASA, similar to those purchased by George, had either met the same fate or — perhaps worse — been irretrievably damaged due to poor storage protocol. NASA marked the ruby anniversary of Apollo 11 in 2009, by contracting with Lowry Digital to restore and enhance the footage of the EVA that had been saved by CBS Television – the version known to most viewers today.

From Neil Armstrong's first step to Buzz Aldrin's bounding down the LM ladder shortly after him; from Aldrin's exuberant bouncing around on the surface of the moon to demonstrate the effects of lunar gravity to the remarkable "long distance phone call" with the President of the United States; from the astronauts' solar wind experiment to their deploying the American flag on the surface of the moon; from the collection of soil and rock samples to the photographing of the "magnificent desolation" of the lunar landscape — this is the Apollo 11 moon walk as seen that historic evening of July 20, 1969, by the staff of Mission Control.

ilbasso

The sale is led by a collection of 20 original Apollo Firing Room Control Panels from the Kennedy Space Center Firing Room 1, which launched 7 Apollo missions carried by the Saturn V rocket, including the three most historic: Apollo 8 (first humans to orbit the moon), Apollo 11 (first humans to land on the moon), and Apollo 17 (last humans to land on the moon), as well as Apollo 4 (unmanned), 13, 15 and 16 (estimate $200/300,000).

Those control panels are almost certainly NOT from Firing Room 1. They're from the same original source as the ones in my collection, which I have researched extensively. The vast majority of those panels are from Firing Room 3. And as such, they were only used in Apollo 10, the Skylab manned launches, and ASTP. Several of those panels even have labels on the front which identify them (in faded writing) as FR3.

Many if not all of these panels toured as part of the Charles Shultz Museum's exhibit on Apollo several years ago.

I have notified Sotheby's that their description needs to be modified - that although these panels were certainly used in the Apollo program, there is no proof whatsoever that they were from Firing Room 1.

Cassandra Hatton

Thank you for the interest in the sale. You mention that you you "notified" us - can you tell me who you spoke with? We have no emails or voicemails from you.

We are always happy to discuss things, as the quality of our research and descriptions is very important to us. Always, if someone has a credible information that can be supported by evidence, showing that something is certainly (and not "almost certainly") inaccurately described, we are happy to update our descriptions. You can reach out to me directly at cassandra.hatton@sothebys.com, and I look forward to speaking with you.

------------------
Cassandra Hatton
Vice President, Senior Specialist
Sotheby's
(212) 894-2342
cassandra.hatton@sothebys.com

albatron

Lot 136: Has three of the hardest X-15 signatures to obtain: Armstrong, McKay and Adams.

WOW!

Space Cadet Carl

During the last couple days, various news services have reported that three boxes of two-inch reel videotape of the Apollo 11 moonwalk are up for auction and could sell for $1 million dollars. The tapes were purchased in 1976 for $217 by a young NASA intern.

Are these the exact same videotapes that Mark Gray, John Lowrey and NASA used ten years ago to reconstruct the clearest version of the moonwalk then possible in 2009?

Editor's note: Threads merged.

Robert Pearlman

Carl, see above; these are a different set of tapes that were known about but not used for the 2009 restoration effort.

apollo16uvc

So this set of tapes is different from the one used for the restoration? This means there are two 2-inch Quadruplex sources.

This means it is possible to achieve the highest quality restoration in history by overlaying the two sources. From the reference still seen in the video, the quality is better than the one used by NASA.

This should increase sharpness and clarity and decrease noise and wow/flutter. It may even be possible to increase the framerate by interleaving the frames. Someone has done this before with colour video and 16mm film.

Hopefully the 10 bit video will be put online, so it can be combined with the other (unenhanced) source.

The fact that NASA does not have these tapes means they really don't care. It will be up to us to produce the highest quality restoration to date.

Robert Pearlman

NASA and Gary George (the owner and now-consignor) discussed, but could not come to an agreement over the use of these tapes for the 2009 restoration. By George's own account, his concerns were transporting the tapes to where the work would be done and NASA's request of "donating the data on the tapes if they decided they wanted it."

Docdrew

I'm watching this auction and there's some frequent bidder called Selby. Is this a company?

Matt T

I'm presuming Selby is a member of Sotheby's staff relaying phone bids to the room, very likely representing different bidders for each lot.

Docdrew

But I don't hear this name for every lot so I don't think it's a staff member.

Cassandra Hatton

Mr Selby Kiffer is our senior international specialist and has been at Sotheby’s for over 35 years.

Robert Pearlman

Sotheby's release

The Best Surviving NASA Videotape Recordings of The Apollo 11 Moon Landing Sell for $1.82 Million In Sotheby's New York Salesroom On the 50th Anniversary of the Historic Event
Moments ago in Sotheby's New York salesroom, on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, three original NASA videotape recordings of that historic event sold for $1.82 million. Three bidders competed for the videotapes for nearly five minutes on the phone and online during our ongoing auction dedicated to Space Exploration. This result is more than 8,000 times the price paid for the tapes at a government surplus auction in 1976 by then-NASA intern Gary George.

Cassandra Hatton, Vice President & Senior Specialist in Sotheby's Books & Manuscripts Department, commented: "It's been a joy and a privilege to share with the world the incredible story of these tapes– original witnesses to a glorious moment that united the world in a collective belief in the unlimited potential of mankind. Fifty years ago today, we achieved the world's greatest human accomplishment, and what we universally recall about that event is best documented on these tapes. We are truly over the moon about today's outstanding result."

DSeuss5490

Some impressive numbers. Novaspace customers had quite a showing, and payday, at this auction.

neo1022

I was looking over the results, and a number of items have no sale price indicated. Does this mean the lot did not sell? The Apollo 11 flown boost cover decal, for example...

rgarner

Yes, no price means it didn't hit the reserve.

Larry McGlynn

Sotheby's also ran an auction featuring Omega Speedmaster watches. Many were related to spaceflight.

Here is an article about the watch auction that I wrote for Fratello Watch Blog.

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