The lunar dust samples during the Apollo 11 mission were collected by Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon. The moon dust is now heading for an auction on April 13 and will be sold to the highest bidder.
Bonhams, an auction company in New York, said the lunar samples are expected to fetch between $800,000 to $1.2 million.
There had been a controversy on the moon dust between the owner and NASA. Neil Armstong brought the bad with the moon dust back to earth completing the mission. The dust was supposed to be lost by NASA. They had been stolen by a past curator of the Cosmosphere space museum in Hutchinson, Kansas, Max Ary.
But they were later seized by the US Marshal. Later they were auctioned off by the US marshal to Nancy Carlson for $995 in 2015. Carlson sent the bag of dust to NASA for identifying its origin. NASA on the other hand, when they learned the importance of the sample refused to return them to Nancy Carlson.
Eventually, Carlson sued NASA and in the end won. Carlson is now looking to sell five metal pieces with lunar dust on top that are still in a container from NASA, Stackhouse said.
The auction will be held at Bonhams New York Gallery on April 13.
