Woman's Apollo 11 NASA Bag With Moon Dust Sells For $1.812M

An Inveress woman commemorated the 48th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing Thursday by auctioning a pouch with moon dust from the mission for $1.812 million at Sotheby's. The sale comes months after Nancy Lee Carlson was given ownership of the bag of rare lunar samples, the first time a private citizen was given ownership of a moon object that had been sold by the U.S. government

Carlson, a corporate lawyer and collector of space artifacts, had bought the specially designed, 11.5-inch, embroidered NASA decontamination bag for $995 at a U.S. Marshal's auction in 2015. At that time, the bag's suggested opening bid was $20,000, but Carlson's asking price of $995 was high enough to win the auction. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest Palatine news. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Although Carlson received a tidy return on investment from Thursday's sale, the bag didn't receive the opening bids of between $2 million to $4 million the New York auction house originally estimated. Sotheby's would not identify the bag's buyer, who made winning bid by phone.

RELATED: Apollo 11 Moon Dust Proves To Be Stellar Investment For Woman

The zippered NASA bag, which had been used by astronaut Neil Armstrong during the Apollo 11 mission, had been seized from the president of a Kansas space museum who was convicted in 2006 of profiting off the sale of stolen museum items. Government officials at the time weren't aware of the artifact's historic and scientific significance, and NASA wasn't notified until Carlson, at the recommendation of The Field Museum, had experts at the Johnson Space Center examine her auction item. That's when officials realized just how important the bag's contents were.

Watch the historic Apollo 11 launch, courtesy of NASA

Once scientists discovered the bag's contents were covered in microscopic moon dust and rock particles, the government claimed Carlson's purchase was actually federal property, starting the legal battle that Carlson eventually won.

RELATED: Rare Bag Of Moon Dust Back In Hands Of Inverness Woman

Carlson is expected to donate a portion of what she earns from Thursday's auction to charities, including the Immune Deficiency Foundation and the Bay Cliff Health Camp Children’s Therapy and Wellness Center, according to the auction house. She also plans to create a scholarship for students studying speech pathology at Northern Michigan University, Carlson's alma mater, Sotheby's added.

The Apollo 11 Contingency Lunar Sample Return Bag used by astronaut Neil Armstrong originally was bought at a U.S. Marshal's acution in 2015 by Nancy Lee Carlson of Inverness. (Photo by Richard Drew | Associated Press)

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