When astronaut James Lovell put his Apollo 13 Lunar Module Activation Checklist up for auction in Dallas last year, the artifact sold for a record $388,375 -- and got him in hot water with NASA, which said that he didn't have the right to sell it in the first place. Finally, in September, Congress passed a law granting astronauts from Mercury, Gemini and Apollo-era missions full rights over any artifacts they received.
On Monday, Bonhams auction house in New York is hosting the first sale of space-related artifacts since the law's passage. Up for auction is a deluge of memorabilia from the history of flight and space exploration, including signed photos, rocket engines, spacecraft models, even random space-suit parts. If you've got $70,000 to spare, you might consider putting in a bid on the Space Magna Carta, a certificate symbolizing the end of the space race, or perhaps a few relics from the first mission to the moon -- like a disc carrying messages of goodwill from Earth to our alien friends.
We collected a few of the most intriguing items below. You can check out the full catalog here.
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