posted 05-29-2025 12:35 PM               

Heart of Hubble, the Power Control Unit from Iconic Telescope, Comes Into Focus in Heritage's Space Exploration Auction June 13-14

Auction features Part II of Family Collection of Jacques Bracke, which is considered among the world's finest belonging to a non-astronaut

The allure of space travel and exploration has long sprinkled its stardust across the dreams of kids, adventure-seekers and transportation buffs alike. Some no doubt have attempted to scratch that anti-gravity itch with trips to museums and NASA, but few have had the opportunity to bid on the original heart of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Indeed, Heritage's June 13-14 Space Exploration Featuring The Family Collection of Jacques Bracke Part II Signature Auction offers up the Hubble's original Power Control Unit, as well as other significant artifacts and critical components to historic missions.

But first, back to that Hubble Heart, which is the heart of this auction. Launched in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) changed astronomy forever. Hubble has provided cosmic insights, capturing images like the "Pillars of Creation" and the Hubble Deep Field. It has observed planets, confirmed supermassive black holes and gathered evidence of dark energy, leading to data that has led to more than 10,000 scientific papers. In March 2002, astronauts undertook Servicing Mission 3B to replace the PCU. It was described as "open-heart surgery" on Hubble, and the removal of the original PCU marked the end of an era. While it witnessed Hubble's first observations, repair missions, and countless discoveries, its proactive replacement also advanced science by preventing future failure and upgrading HST's capabilities. The successful swap stands as one of NASA's great engineering success stories.

The countdown to bid on NASA's success has generated immense buzz.

"It is almost surely the only opportunity anyone will have to acquire an item that spent nearly 12 years in space and flew nearly 2 billion miles," says Brad Palmer, Director of Space Exploration at Heritage Auctions.

And it is not the only Hubble-related lot. Ready for control center reenactments is the monumental Lockheed Vehicle Power Interface (VPI). The full-scale, multi-bay rack system was built for ground operations support and is the bridge between spaceflight engineering and celestial science — a critical component without which the Hubble mission could not have been realized.

It is rare to happen upon artifacts from the Hubble Space Telescope program — particularly those directly tied to structural fabrication for science-critical systems. As NASA's most celebrated orbital observatory, Hubble changed humanity's view of the universe. The Hubble Telescope Fixed Head Star Tracker AFT Shroud Door Mold (of which there are two in this auction) is a direct link to the engineering behind that revolution and was acquired directly from the Goddard Space Flight Center, with accompanying original blueprints.

For collectors looking for out-of-this-world ephemera that skews more easily stored or displayed, set bids to launch. This auction is the second in a series of auctions — the first was in December 2024 — featuring lots from the family collection of Jacques Bracke, a Belgian collector whose collection is considered one of the very finest in the world from a non-astronaut.

There are several astronaut-signed standouts from various Apollo missions. First, the largest American flag, flown the longest distance from Earth (248,655 miles), coming from the personal collection of Apollo 13's Mission Commander James Lovell. He has written on the bottom white stripe: "On board Apollo 13 Around the Moon James Lovell." Then, there is an official commemorative cover flown to the moon, held in quarantine with and signed by Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin. (There's also another American flag flown from mankind's first lunar landing and signed by Apollo 11's Buzz Aldrin, and originally from his personal collection.)

The Hubble and Apollo names are often the first thoughts in space, but Palmer assures this is an auction with a large orbit.

"In regard to nostalgia, the offering of Apollo-era items that commemorate the moon-landing missions is very prolific," he says. "But this auction is exciting in that it covers all aspects of space exploration, from the Mercury program to substantial offerings of the Space Shuttle era, and even to the current-day SpaceX material."

As for those embarking on new collection discoveries or even taking their first giant leaps into the category, the auction has opportunities for all levels of interest and budgets.

So, bidders, suit up — and not in U.S.S. Wasp's Mission Commander Jim McDivitt's recovery flight suit, although it also is available. Get ready for excitement and for the bids to take off.