Moon Dust Collected by Neil Armstrong to Be Auctioned Off

Moon dust that Neil Armstrong collected during the first lunar landing was displayed Thursday at a New York auction house—a symbol of America's glory days in space now valued at $2 million to $4 million. The late astronaut brought the dust and some tiny rocks back to Earth in an ordinary-looking bag. The AP reports it's one of 180 lots linked to space travel that Sotheby's is auctioning off July 20 to mark the 48th anniversary of the pioneer lunar landing on that date in 1969. Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon, and the moon dust is the first sample of Earth's satellite ever collected.

The bag has had a storied existence, a decades-long trajectory during which it was misidentified and nearly landed in the trash. About two years ago, it appeared in a seized assets auction staged on behalf of the US Marshals Service. The owner, whose name has not been made public, purchased the treasure and sent it to NASA for testing. After a legal tussle, a federal judge granted the owner full rights over the curiosity. Other items on the block are Armstrong's snapshot of fellow Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin standing on the moon, a documented flight plan astronauts used to return to Earth, and the Snoopy astronaut doll that was the mascot of the Apollo 10 crew. (More Neil Armstrong stories.)