AUCTIONS

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June 20 At its inaugural Space Exploration sale, Sotheby’s New York is offering the bag that was used to bring back to Earth the first sample of material collected from the moon. It was only a year ago that the true history of the bag was revealed, when the owner sent the item to NASA. Scientific tests showed the contents in the bag to be moon dust from the Apollo 11 landing site, while the part number inside matched that of the “Contingency Lunar Sample Return Decontamination Bag” in the Apollo 11 Stowage list. Held on the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the artefact is expected to fetch US$2 million-$4 million, with a portion of proceeds to go to charities.