Author
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Topic: [RR] Space Exploration and Aviation (Apr 2023)
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SpaceAholic Member Posts: 5240 From: Sierra Vista, Arizona Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-17-2023 11:08 AM
The catalog for RR Auction's Space Exploration and Aviation sale is now online and open for bidding through April 20, 2023. |
mode1charlie Member Posts: 1406 From: Honolulu, HI Registered: Sep 2010
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posted 03-17-2023 04:51 PM
Thanks for the reminder. Some great items there. Initial bids in. |
space1 Member Posts: 925 From: Danville, Ohio Registered: Dec 2002
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posted 03-18-2023 07:37 PM
Lot #9128 is described as food flown aboard Gemini 8, with a letter attesting this from David Scott. The packet of Cocoa includes the instruction to add "5 oz hot or cold water."However, Gemini only had cold water. Hot water was not available until Apollo. This makes me wonder if at least the Cocoa packet flew on Apollo 9 instead of Gemini 8. |
SpaceAholic Member Posts: 5240 From: Sierra Vista, Arizona Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-19-2023 12:32 AM
Concur. The Cocoa (despite the Scott LOA) is probably Apollo vice Gemini. |
rgarner Member Posts: 1427 From: London, United Kingdom Registered: Mar 2012
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posted 03-19-2023 12:08 PM
The external germicide tablets were replaced with internal tablets from Apollo 8 onwards, so this pack could not have flown on Apollo 9. I also concur with the above. Hot/cold water was not introduced until Apollo 7, so any Gemini-era food pack would not reference water temperature. I think this is just a simple mixup. It is quite easy to confuse flown and unflown food packs. The identifying factors are marginal. |
hidaleeho Member Posts: 83 From: Denver, Colorado, USA Registered: Dec 2011
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posted 03-25-2023 03:32 PM
Funny, no comments on the three gold Omega Speedmasters being offered, along with seven other watches.Wally Schirra's gold Omega selling for almost 1.9 million is bringing everything out of the woodwork. |
Jurvetson Member Posts: 155 From: Los Altos an SF, CA, United States Registered: Sep 2011
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posted 03-25-2023 07:56 PM
Some more images for the Bell XLR-67 engine. It was used in the ex-Eurythmics' music video. The whole RASCAL, the first nuclear armed air-launched missile:  

More views of this three-chamber engine assembly:  

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Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 50326 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-25-2023 08:29 PM
Steve, is that one of SpaceX's first-gen, now-retired crew transport vehicles parked next to the XLR-67 engine in your fifth photo? |
Jurvetson Member Posts: 155 From: Los Altos an SF, CA, United States Registered: Sep 2011
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posted 03-26-2023 02:14 PM
Good eye. It's just my car at the office, trying to look like said vehicle.  |
Spacehardware Member Posts: 139 From: Durley Registered: Jan 2008
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posted 03-27-2023 03:34 AM
Lot 9642 A7LB pressure suit boots are from Skylab. |
Gtlv4u Member Posts: 10 From: Atlanta, GA, USA Registered: Jul 2021
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posted 04-05-2023 07:34 PM
I have some items coming up in this auction. If you are looking for something flown, there are some pieces from the IRED workout device that were on the ISS: the squat bar assembly (lot 9839) and a load bearing plate (lot 9840) that crew used to do squats and stuff.I also have a super cool EVA IR camera (lot 9824) for the shuttle. The unit up for sale is the validation unit from Langley, and it has the engineer's hand written test results after vacuum testing. This unit was tested and passed qualification standards that validated this one and the units after it for flight readiness. |
stsmithva Member Posts: 2072 From: Fairfax, VA Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 04-13-2023 06:22 PM
With one week to go, I'd like to point out one of the items I consigned to the auction concluding April 20th.It's an 18 x 24" small poster for the US Astronaut Hall of Fame signed in black felt tip by seventeen Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo astronauts: Alan Shepard, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Wally Schirra, Gordon Cooper, John Young, Jim McDivitt, Charles Conrad, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, Tom Stafford, Gene Cernan, Michael Collins, Richard Gordon, Buzz Aldrin, Deke Slayton, and Dave Scott. Also signed by Betty Grissom, the widow of Gus Grissom. These signers include six of the original seven Mercury astronauts, and at least one member of every Apollo mission—including every commander but Armstrong. (And half of the men who walked on the moon during Apollo.) You'll also see that around the large center image of America's first space walk, there are about two dozen other photos from Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. So the signers, plus the images, make this a wonderful, displayable item covering the dawn of space exploration. To conclude... perhaps click "Add to Bidtracker." |
CJ Member Posts: 76 From: Cherry Hill, NJ Registered: Nov 2003
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posted 04-13-2023 07:25 PM
quote: Originally posted by Gtlv4u: I also have a super cool EVA IR camera (lot 9824) for the shuttle.
The nine button function panel is missing. Do you know what happened to it? |
randyc Member Posts: 865 From: Denver, CO USA Registered: May 2003
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posted 04-17-2023 12:23 PM
Lot #9874 is a Marshall Space Flight Center Saturn Apollo Applications Cluster Model. I looked online for similar models to determine if there are any missing parts. It appears that there are more than one configuration of this model, including a configuration that has an Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM) attached to the Multiple Docking Adapter (MDA). So is this model missing the Apollo Telescope Mount or is this a configuration that did not have an ATM and the model is complete? |
Rocketman! Member Posts: 167 From: Redmond, Washington, USA Registered: Dec 2007
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posted 04-17-2023 03:05 PM
I have a similar model of larger scale. Mine came with a lunar module configured for telescopic observations. This configuration would have the lunar module as a separate free-flight module that would dock to the main cluster. It appears the lunar module may be missing from the auction model. |
rgarner Member Posts: 1427 From: London, United Kingdom Registered: Mar 2012
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posted 04-20-2023 06:57 PM
To the person who won my Apollo 13 CM hatch model coated in flown kapton (lot 9871), congratulations! It’s an amazing piece and I hope it sits well in its new home. |
Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 50326 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 04-20-2023 11:02 PM
quote: Originally posted by hidaleeho: Wally Schirra's gold Omega selling for almost 1.9 million is bringing everything out of the woodwork.
The three watches in this sale almost split the $1.9 million that was paid for Schirra's; together they totaled $1.8 million. On edit: I have no idea how I came to the total above, which is wrong. The three watches totaled $974,238 (with buyer's premium), or about 51 percent of the $1.9 million paid for Schirra's watch alone. Individually, Alan Bean's watch sold for $302,500, Ron Evans' watch sold for $296,738 and Gus Grissom's watch sold for $375,000. |
hidaleeho Member Posts: 83 From: Denver, Colorado, USA Registered: Dec 2011
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posted 04-21-2023 09:51 AM
Have to wonder what Wally's would sell for if it came up again... |
Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 50326 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 04-21-2023 10:55 AM
Or, conversely, what any one of the three watches (Bean, Evans or Grissom) would have sold for had it been the only one available? |
hidaleeho Member Posts: 83 From: Denver, Colorado, USA Registered: Dec 2011
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posted 04-21-2023 11:27 PM
Yes, an interesting question! Love to know where they ended up. I know the Omega museum was thought of as a possibility for Wally's watch, and perhaps others. |
spaced out Member Posts: 3190 From: Paris, France Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 04-22-2023 08:48 AM
It's telling that the highest prices in the auction were realized by rare commemorative watches rather than space collectibles.It seems clear that many other areas of collecting attract far higher top-end prices than space. Watches, music, cinema, art... compared to these, space is still (and maybe always will be) niche. |
hidaleeho Member Posts: 83 From: Denver, Colorado, USA Registered: Dec 2011
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posted 04-22-2023 02:30 PM
RR stated "Omega presented 26 of these gold commemorative watches — known as the ‘Tribute to Astronauts’ watch — to NASA astronauts alive and deceased," so you would think whomever purchased the first one would know others would be available sooner or later. |
Rick Mulheirn Member Posts: 4516 From: England Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 04-24-2023 05:51 AM
A Lexan Apollo bubble helmet blank and an Apollo meal package, both of which exceeded their estimates are no longer visible on the RR auction site. Is it me? I should have made a note of their respective lot numbers... |
rgarner Member Posts: 1427 From: London, United Kingdom Registered: Mar 2012
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posted 04-24-2023 06:01 AM
If a lot no longer appears on the site, it means it did not reach the reserve and went unsold. |
Larry McGlynn Member Posts: 1413 From: Boston, MA Registered: Jul 2003
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posted 04-24-2023 09:39 PM
Rich is correct. Anything not listed in the results did not make reserve. It seemed like a quiet auction. It is a question of inflation and economy as well as the dollar in Europe? Is it the price of energy now? Is that making the consumer cautious in the early quarters of the year? What surprised me things like Apollo era training manuals did well, but objects were passed. A bit off topic, but as for watches, the watch world has exploded over the last 5+ years. The price of mechanical movement watches has skyrocketed. In 2003, one could buy the first edition Omega Snoopy Speedy extremely easily at $2,300. Currently, the third edition has a waiting list that is about 3 to 4 years long at a price of $10,000. The average rate of inflation over the past 30 years is 2.61%. The rate of inflation on retail watch prices is 11.16% per year. That is MSRP. The 2020 Omega Snoopy Speedmaster which has an MSRP of $10,000 is selling on average at $30,000 on internet watch sites. It appears that we are seeing an increase in collectors and speculators. Ironically, the "Millennials" are leading the charge in the purchase of luxury watches now. I will be watching the Fall auction cycle to see if there is any change from the April auction to the October auction. |