posted 06-22-2016 06:40 PM               

Printed catalogues will be available next week, and we are happy to mail them free of charge. The sale takes place on Wednesday, July 20, 2016 at 1 p.m. EDT in our galleries at 580 Madison Avenue in New York City. Preview for the sale opens on Saturday, July 16 at noon, and runs through Wednesday morning.

Please do not hesitate to let me know if you have any questions, or if you would like to be sent a catalogue.

posted 07-07-2016 11:02 AM               

Items Aboard Apollo and Soyuz Missions Standout at Bonhams Space History Auction

Bonhams announces the Space History auction, to take place in New York on July 20, the 47th anniversary of the first documenting events ranging from the dawn of the space race to the end of the Cold War era, including the flown artifacts from the Apollo 11 and several Soyuz missions.

Before Blast-Off

An original Gemini 133P Control Trainer is on offer, with an estimate of U.S. $60,000-90,000. Gemini was an early NASA human spaceflight program from 1961–66 that heavily contributed to pushing NASA forward in the field, especially in advance of the Apollo missions.

This remarkable system, consisting of five massive training panels, is essentially a duplicate of those found inside the Gemini spacecraft. It was used to train the Gemini astronauts at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas.

Another preparation prior to blast-off is the development of the spacesuits — the suits being custom-tailored for each astronaut. Featured in the auction is an excellent and rare collection of plaster casts of the right hands of 15 NASA astronauts, including Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin (estimate U.S. $6,000-9,000). Used in the development of the spacesuit gloves, the castings were dip-molded from the astronaut's hands, with the gloves then being constructed directly on the casting.

To the Moon and Back

An Apollo 11 navigational chart flown to the lunar surface is a highlight of the sale. Originally from the personal collection of Buzz Aldrin, the chart maps the first manned lunar descent taken by Aldrin and Neil Armstrong on board the Lunar Module Eagle. Used minutes before they got the go-ahead from Mission Control to land on the moon surface, it is estimated at U.S. $25,000-35,000.

The lot is accompanied by a written provenance note from Aldrin: "The chart was one of a series taped together which provided a continuous map of our flight path and, like Neil and myself, logged over 22 hours on the lunar surface."

Soyuz Space Missions

A flown space suit from the International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 6 is on the auction block. The suit was worn by flight engineer Don Pettit on his dramatic return to Earth aboard the Soyuz TMA-1 spacecraft, following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in February of 2003. It is estimated at U.S. $25,000-35,000.

Don Pettit (b. 1955) is a veteran of three spaceflights — living aboard the ISS for five-and-a-half months during Expedition 6, before image004.jpgNASA grounded the shuttle program, pending numerous safety changes, following the Columbia disaster that killed all seven crew members. Developed in 1973-79, the suit is still worn by everyone who flies on the Soyuz spacecraft.

Full Scale Vintage Sputnik-1 EMC/EMI Lab Model

A full scale vintage test model of the Sputnik-1 satellite, complete with live transmitter and period receiver. 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. Estimated at U.S. $10,000-15,000, it is an exceptionally rare vintage test model of the Sputnik-1 satellite, one of only a few made to test ground Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) and Electromagnetic Interference (AMI) testing.

The Sputnik-1 artificial satellite first orbited the Earth on October 5, 1957. Visible all around the Earth, it launched the American Sputnik crisis and gave birth to the Space Race.

Other Space History highlights include:

• A flown navigational celestial globe carried by cosmonaut Pyotr Klimuk on Soyuz 18; estimate U.S. $30,000-40,000

  The manned mission to Salyut 4 was the second and final crew to man the space station and lasted for two months (May 24 – July 26, 1975), marking a Soviet space endurance record at the time. Cosmonauts used these globes on the Soyuz spacecraft to supplement their ground-based navigation systems.

• Flown Soyuz-3 space navigation indicator; estimate U.S. $30,000-40,000

  Removed from the Soyuz-3 spacecraft by cosmonaut Georgy T. Beregovoy after his day-long flight. Intended to dock in space with the orbiting Soyuz-2, the mission, which launched on October 26, 1968, failed after several complications.

Auction preview hours (open to the public): Jul. 16-17 from 12 p.m.-5 p.m. EST; Jul. 18-19 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. EST; and Jul. 20 from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. EST. View the catalog online.

posted 07-21-2016 04:02 PM               

We Have Lift Off: Bonhams Space History Sale Achieves Stratospheric Result

It was an astronomical result. The Space History Sale at Bonhams New York yesterday, 20 July 2016, made $1,315,063.

The sale quickly took off. It opened with a full-scale lab model of the Sputnik 1 satellite, which achieved more than ten times its estimate of $10,000-15,000. After a dramatic spate of bidding, it eventually sold for $269,000 to a buyer on the telephone.

The Soviet-built Sputnik 1 marked the dawn of the Space Race between Russia and the United States, and this life-size model was one of only four ever made.

Michael Collins' flown crew-signed Apollo 11 emblem sold for $110,000 (estimate 50,000-70,000). An incredibly rare artifact from the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, signed by all three astronauts on board – Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins – made double its estimate. Just 3.5 inches in diameter, the Apollo 11 Beta cloth crew emblem sold for $110,000, (estimated $50,000-70,000). It came from the original collection of the Apollo 11 command module pilot, Michael Collins.

An original spacesuit achieved $62,500 — double its estimate of $25,000-35,000. It was made in 1973-79 and worn by Don Pettit, a veteran of three spaceflights, in February 2003 during his dramatic return to earth aboard the Soyuz TMA-1 following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

Other Space History sale highlights include:

• An Apollo 11 navigational chart flown to the lunar surface, sold for $40,000 (estimate $25,000-35,000).

  Originally from the personal collection of Buzz Aldrin, the chart maps the first manned lunar descent taken by Aldrin and Neil Armstrong on board the Lunar Module Eagle. It was used minutes before they got the go-ahead from Mission Control to land on the surface of the moon. It is accompanied by a note from Aldrin himself: "The chart was one of a series taped together which provided a continuous map of our flight path and, like Neil and myself, logged over 22 hours on the lunar surface."

• A flown Soyuz-3 space navigation indicator sold for $37,500 ($30,000-40,000)

  This navigator was removed from the Soyuz-3 spacecraft by Soviet cosmonaut Georgy T. Beregovoy after his day-long flight in October 1968. Beregovoy intended to dock in space with the orbiting Soyuz-2, but failed after several complications. He was nonetheless awarded the two Orders of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, the 3rd Class Orders of Alexander Nevsky and Bogdan Khmelnitsky, two Orders of the Red Star, two 1st Class Orders of the Patriotic War.

"This was a truly meteoric result for the Space History sale," said Cassandra Hatton, Director of Science History and Technology at Bonhams. "The demand for these relics of the space race continues to be really strong. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are still very much household names – evidently, everything they touched turns to gold. The pieces from the Soviet space missions are also steeped with history and drama, so it's exciting to see the market flourishing across the board."