posted 02-11-2014 10:21 AM               

Cassandra Hatton, Bonhams Senior Specialist in Space History, reflected on the suit's appeal: "The Mercury spacesuit epitomizes the earliest days of space exploration, a time when our world was a smaller place. A direct parallel can be drawn to the time when Columbus first set sail in 1492. No one knew if he would ever make it back, and one could only imagine what he would encounter on the voyage. It was a time of fear and wonder, and the Mercury era was exactly the same. Astronauts were regarded as heroes, doing what we all wished we had the courage to do, and risking their lives for the greater good of mankind. This suit is a symbol of that courage, and an important historic relic."

In addition to the iconic project Mercury suit, Bonhams will offer a Russian Strizh spacesuit, designed to protect cosmonauts from ejection at altitudes up to 30 kilometers and speeds up to Mach 3 (est. $15,000-20,000). The rare example is one of only 27 created for test and training purposes between 1981-1991, many of which were damaged or destroyed.

posted 03-08-2014 06:45 PM               

It is valued at $4,000-$5,000

I do not see anything special about this model, it is not even complete and yet has a large valuation. Does anyone know any reasons for such an estimated price?

posted 03-08-2014 10:33 PM               

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Originally posted by LOR:
I have not been following the market for topping LEM models, but I find Bonham's valuation quite a bit on the expensive side.

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posted 03-08-2014 10:38 PM               

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Originally posted by mjanovec:
I personally believe the Armstrong signature is not authentic.

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posted 04-04-2014 02:25 PM               

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
They aren't aiming for the collector's market.

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posted 04-04-2014 02:29 PM               

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Originally posted by chet:
...leaving out that that prohibition only applies to dust or fragments returned by the Apollo missions

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posted 04-04-2014 02:52 PM               

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Originally posted by SpaceAholic:
Has clear title ever been truly established for private ownership of any Apollo returned lunar dust?

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posted 04-08-2014 12:59 PM               

Cover layer from a Phase 2 Mercury era space suit, with early model "widow's peak" helmet, gloves, and mock-up boots.

posted 04-08-2014 03:29 PM               

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Originally posted by mjanovec:
In quickly glancing over the lots, I have serious doubts about Lot 221. While the Collins and Aldrin signatures appear good, I personally believe the Armstrong signature is not authentic.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Lev M:
#228 - is not Armstrong on the photo. Misleading.

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posted 04-08-2014 04:41 PM               

• Lot 210: Collins' Flown Crew-Signed Apollo 11 Emblem. A Rare Flown Armstrong-Signed Mission Artifact: Sold for US $62,500 inc. premium

• Lot 212: Flown Apollo 11 Lunar Surface Checklist Sheet Having One Of The Most Extensive Sets Of Notations Made While On The Moon: Sold for US $68,750 inc. premium

posted 04-08-2014 09:07 PM               

While I'm still in "sticker shock" at what it cost me, I just keep reminding myself that there are more Picassos in the world than these and I try and imagine what a simple page of Columbus' log would be worth today.

posted 04-08-2014 11:17 PM            

Odd to see so man pieces get passed for not reaching the reserve — is that unusual? Were the seller's hopes unrealistic?

posted 04-08-2014 11:51 PM               

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Originally posted by Crsh4Csh:
I'm thrilled that I was able to acquire lot 212, the Apollo 11 Lunar Surface Checklist page.

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posted 04-19-2014 07:26 PM               

As always, I would love any details or ancillary information anyone might have on these items (especially if the seller is willing to contact me). Does anyone know what the institution was (for the listing that said "Provenance: Property of an institution.")?

posted 05-08-2014 03:01 AM               

Based on the photos, the suit appears to be a display suit made by the B.F. Goodrich Company. This is evident by the lack of an internal pressure bladder layer, along with the absence of a pressure gauge on the arm and lack of the electrical biomedical monitor connector on the right thigh. Based on the photographs, the pressure gauge and electrical connector were never installed. Goodrich made an (unknown) quantity of display suits during the time they were making the Mercury flight suits.

Amanda Young, former NASM Curator of Spacesuits, in her richly illustrated book “Spacesuits” refers to these suits as Anthropometric suits, meaning they are the shape of a suit but do not have the pressure bladder to function as a pressure suit. I prefer to call these suits as “Goodrich Display Suits” since all suits are anthropometric (ie having the shape of the human body). The exterior of the suits are the same as the flight suits with some exceptions for things like pressure gauges which on some suits are just mockup versions. The great thing about these Goodrich Display Suits are that they use, for the most part, real hardware and the fabric parts are made from the same materials as the flight pressure suits and from the same patterns. So essentially they are made off of the "production" line but were made without the pressure bladders since they were for display use only.

The suit you acquired is the flight configuration (segmented shoulders) with the early style glove attachment method (zippered). This is representative of the configuration Alan Shepard used on his MR3 flight. (Later suits used ball lock glove disconnects). The gloves are of the earlier training configuration as is the helmet (based on the style of pressure valve on the side of the helmet. The helmet is also a “Display” version as it does not have a complete head liner and appears to never have had the internal wiring installed. The #2 written on the inside of the rear of the helmet shell refers to the number of the display suit and not head size. While missing a few parts the helmet is easily restorable to make it complete (visor pivot parts, microphone, as well as replacement of the cracked visor if desired). Other than the previously mentioned lack of pressure gauge and thigh electrical connector, the suit appears to only be missing the neckring latch.

As Mercury suits age, and if not stored properly, the bonded metallic aluminum coating can disintegrate, leaving the brownish plasticized coating on the underlying olive drab base nylon material of the suit. This results in brown areas on the suit, or if the fabric is just heavily worn, the olive drab nylon shows thru the worn off aluminum coating as a dark greenish area. This suit has been sprayed with silver (aluminum) spray paint as evident by the overspray of most of the white webbing and white fabric areas on the suit. This results in the webbing appearing gray. Based on the photos it appears that most of the suit exterior has been painted. The only area that appears to not have been painted is the upper center of the suit adjacent to the NASA vector patch. I have seen several suits in museum storage areas that have had this done to them. Unfortunately it is impossible to remove the overspray from the webbing. Since aluminum paint does not have the same reflective characteristics as metalized aluminum, the fabric will appear as gray, not reflective silver. Fortunately, other than a couple small holes in the rear of the suit, as noted in the auction catalog, the suit fabric is intact and appears to be structurally sound which makes for a good display.

The boots are a slightly different style than the Mercury flight boots, and they appear to be made of a highly reflective foil coated fabric usually seen on the early Goodrich Gemini prototypes. The boots are interesting, but the catalog photos are not clear enough to determine exactly what type the boots are.