It's over 40 years since the Apollo 11 mission, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon whilst Michael Collins stayed in orbit, nervously wondering whether they would return.
Everyone knows this, but there are now many people in the world that weren't there to remember it, remember wondering whether the crew would really land successfully, not to mention lift off from the moon again.
Now NASA have released a series of photographs which should help people re-connect with the significance of that moment, when mankind first set foot on another world.
 Apollo 11 landing site (Click to enlarge) |
The images have been taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter set to fly just 50km above the surface of the moon, and show the surface in great detail including the sites at which Apollo missions 11, 12 and 17 landed.
Moves like these could be significant for the field of space collectibles. The highest end pieces sold at auction tend to be from the Apollo missions - just last week an Apollo 13 badge sold for $23,000 - but will that always be the case? Or will there be a gradual shift towards space missions later generations grew up with?
Some recent lots at space auctions have done surprisingly well. A number of items from the space shuttle program did, for example such as an early model of the proposed space shuttle which sold for $20,000 whilst a space shuttle tile flown on several missions sold for $9,950.
 Apollo 17 landing site including flag (Click to enlarge) |
With images such as these, however, NASA will remind younger generations of space fanatics that the Apollo missions were not just something which has passed entirely into memory, but which had an impact which can literally still be seen; they are a part of history.
At Paul Fraser Collectibles we currently have a classic piece of memorabilia from the Apollo missions: Michael Collins's flight suit. Autographed pictures of Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins, both separately and as a group are also available.
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Images: NASA
