posted 08-27-2012 10:11 AM               

Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 personal preference kits

...[Armstrong] has never released any information about the contents of his PPK. He agreed to do so for publication in this book, but was reported he was unable to find the manifest among his many papers. All he had to say about what he took with him to the Moon was: "In my PPK I had some Apollo 11 medallions, some jewelry for my wife and mother [simply the gold olive branch for each], and some things for other people.

He is most clear about, and most proud of, the pieces of the historic Wright Flyer that he took to the moon. Under a special arrangement with the the U.S. Air Force Museum in Dayton, he took in his LM PPK a piece of wood from the Wright brothers' 1903 airplane's left propeller and a piece of muslin fabric (8x13 inches) from its upper left wing.

Armstrong also took along his college fraternity pin from Purdue, which he later donated for display at Phi Delta Thera's headquarters in Oxford, Ohio. — "First Man" by James Hansen, 2005.

Astronaut Neil Armstrong, who died earlier this weekend, carried a pennant belonging to Argentina's Independiente de Avellaneda on his history-making 1969 trip to the Moon.

...The space pioneer said he had carried the pennant to the Moon, confirming statements by team officials that had been called into question by the public in Argentina at the time.

posted 08-27-2012 04:05 PM               

Howard Weinberger states:

No covers from Armstrong have ever been offered to the market and he has confirmed that he is still in possession of all 47, and that none have been distributed or destroyed.

posted 03-03-2013 06:55 AM               

The coin and necklace were given to Neil Armstrong by Jim Lovell to be flown in Armstrong's Apollo 11 PPK on behalf of Trish Butte, "The Folksinger To The Astronauts."

posted 07-16-2025 01:42 PM               

First Man's moon mementos: Contents of Neil Armstrong's personal kit made public

Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong launched to the moon with 280 mementos that he described as being "entirely personal." Now, his handwritten inventories of those trinkets and souvenirs have been made public for the first time.

Purdue University, where Armstrong received his undergraduate degree in 1955 and, decades later, chose to archive his papers, recently added scans of his personal preference kit (PPK) manifests to its e-Archives website.

posted 07-17-2025 10:59 AM               

Starting with just the few pieces mentioned here before the PPKs were released:

• "Apollo 11 medallions" (as cited in "First Man"): LM PPK nos. 22 and 23

• "some jewelry for my wife and mother [simply the gold olive branch for each]" (again, from "First Man"): possibly LM PPK, no. 17 ("Pins [2 ea]")

• "a piece of wood from the Wright brothers' 1903 airplane's left propeller and a piece of muslin fabric (8x13 inches) from its upper left wing" (from "First Man"): LM PPK no. 5 ("Wright Flyer Fabric") and CM PPK SN 1062, no. 25 ("Wright Flyer Prop [28 pieces]).

  A note about this: even though the propeller wood is listed as being in the CM PPK, Armstrong's letter of authenticity accompanying his donation to the Smithsonian reads, "the wooden and fabric materials provided by the Air Force Museum were placed aboard Apollo XI and carried to the surface of the moon by the lunar module 'Eagle'..."

• Phi Delta Thera college fraternity pin (from "First Man"): possibly LM PPK no. 25 ("Pin [1 ea]")

• pennant for Argentina's Independiente de Avellaneda (from the Latin American Herald Tribune): no clear match

• World Scout Badge (from Facebook): LM PPK no. 12 ("BSA patch")

• Apollo 11 flown commemorative covers (from SpaceFlownArtifacts.com): possibly CM PPK SN 1062, nos. 12 and 13 ("Envelopes [stamped] [11]" and "Envelopes [27]")

• 20 Franc coin and necklace, ex Trish Butte/Jay Barbree (from Heritage Auctions): possibly CM PPK SN 1062, no. 19 ("Charm [1 ea]")

• James Mattern's pilot license: possibly CM PPK SN 1062, no. 24 ("Aviator's Cirt." [1 ea]")

posted 07-17-2025 07:39 PM               

And then there is the original number 22 on one of Armstrong's command module lists. He crossed it out, signaling that it did not fly, but it appears to have read "Von Braun Plate," seemingly something connected to the German rocket pioneer and NASA director, Wernher von Braun.

It certainly fits the description nicely and provenance (particularly with Sharpe's typed note) would be consistent as well since Sharpe worked closely with Von Braun.

A writeup on Sharpe and his NASA/post-NASA career can be found here.

posted 07-18-2025 10:52 AM               

Some additional matches:

• One of the two Ohio flags listed as no. 9 in the LM PPK was sold by Heritage Auctions as lot 52272 in November 2018. Three of the five Ohio flags listed as no. 6 in the CM PPK (SN 1062) were also sold by Heritage as lots 50388 in May 2019; 50079 in July 2019; and 50053 in November 2019.

• There are two Purdue centennial flags listed, one on Columbia (no. 10) and one on Eagle (no. 7). It seems there is no way any longer to tell them apart, as both the flag presented by Armstrong to Purdue in 1970 and the flag sold by Heritage (lot 52269 in November 2018) are only identified as having flown to the moon.

• Likewise, Armstrong flew two United Nations flags, one in Columbia (no. 8) and and one on Eagle (no. 10), but Heritage sold both (lots 52270 in November 2018 and 6206 in May 2019) as only having flown to the moon.

• The two Mississippi state flags flown in the CM PPK (SN 1062) as no. 3 were sold by Heritage as lots 52274 in November 2018 and 50055 in November 2019.

• The two California flags in the CM PPK (SN 1062), no. 4, were sold by Heritage as lots 50384 in May 2019 and 50078 in July 2019.

• The two Indiana flags in the CM PPK (SN 1062), no. 5, were sold by Heritage as lots 50387 in May 2019 and 50054 in November 2019.

• Three of the five Texas "Lone Star" flags flown in the CM PPK (SN 1062) as no. 7 were sold by Heritage as lots 52271 in November 2018; 50389 in May 2019; and 50080 in July 2019.

• The one Colorado flag in the CM PPK (SN 1062), no. 15, was sold by Heritage as lot 50385 in May 2019.

• The two Illinois flags in the CM PPK (SN 1062), no. 16, were sold by Heritage as lots 52273 in November 2018 and 50386 in May 2019.

• The two Wisconsin flags in the CM PPK (SN 1062), no. 17, were sold by Heritage as lots 50390 in May 2019 and 50056 in July 2019.

posted 07-18-2025 01:41 PM               

• Armstrong lists flying three "large" U.S. flags aboard Columbia (two in PPK SN 1062 as no. 11 and one in SN 1081 as fourth on the list). Heritage sold all three 17.75 by 11.5 inch flags as lots 52268 in November 2018; 50376 in May 2019; and 50069 in July 2019.

• Armstrong also lists flying a "3'x5' U.S. flag" in his LM PPK (no. 26), which has its own serial number SN1001. This is the same size flag that was deployed on the moon. It is unclear where this flag is today (I was going to suggest it was the flag that flew in front of Mission Control until being brought back to the moon on Apollo 17, but that was ruled out as untrue.)

• Armstrong flew 26 small American flags in his PPK (SN 1062, no. 9) aboard Columbia. Of these, Heritage has sold 19 of the 4x6 inch flags (listed here with CAG and lot numbers to help identify future resales):

  1001403-003 - 52267, November 2018
  1001403-004 - 50144, May 2019
  1001403-005 - 50379, May 2019
  1001403-006 - 50050, November 2019
  1001403-008 - 50077, July 2019
  1001404-003 - 50328, November 2021
  1001404-005 - 42033, July 2022
  1001405-002 - 52266, November 2018
  1001405-003 - 52747, November 2018
  1001405-004 - 50380, May 2019
  1001405-007 - 50378, May 2019
  1001405-008 - 50142, May 2019
  1001406-001 - 50205, May 2023
  1001406-008 - 50059, November 2019
  1001407-001 - 50057, November 2019
  1001407-002 - 50124, June 2020
  1001407-005 - 50033, June 2024
  1001407-008 - 47039, December 2023
  1001408-001 - 50377, May 2019

• Armstrong also notes he carried 30 "3x5" flags in his second CM PPK, SN 1081, and five small U.S. flags in his PPK aboard Eagle (no. 8). It is unknown/unclear where these flags are today.

posted 07-18-2025 05:27 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
Maybe that is the "stone" listed...

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