RR Auction Offering EKG of Neil Armstrong's Heartbeat

RR Auction in Amherst is offering up a variety of space-themed items, including an astronauts heartbeat, in their latest auction.

Their Space and Aviation Autograph and Artifact Auction is scheduled to take place from May 16-23rd. This massive auction of over 850 premiere lots of space and aviation memorabilia and artifacts includes some of the rarest and most impressive artifacts yet offered by RR in this rapidly growing and highly sought after genre of Americana collecting.

One unique item is an electrocardiogram (EKG) of the late astronaut Neil Armstrong's heartbeat before he landed on the moon in 1969. 

This historic sale includes other fascinating selections of space and aviation related autographs, covers, photos, patches, hardware, correspondence, reports, and many types of flown personal mementos and equipment originating from many of the aviators’ and astronauts’ collections themselves, as well as from the personal holdings of many of the hobby’s leading space artifact collectors.

“There seems to be no end to the global appetite of collectors of this rare and historic material – especially from the amazing Apollo lunar landing missions,” said Bobby Livingston, Vice President, Sales & Marketing for RR Auctions. “The Great Space Race was truly a global event, and the collection of memorabilia and artifacts tied to that momentous moment in history is highly prized and sought after. RR Auctions is proud to be able to offer some of the finest and most interesting material available, and this assemblage is by far our most impressive since we began offering specialty aviation and space memorabilia auctions several years ago.”

Some representative highlights from the 850+ lots of vintage aviation and space artifact include:

• A robust offering of flown Robbins medallions from 13 missions, including the key missions of Apollo 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17, as well as from ASTP, Skylab and the Shuttle.
• Over 85 lots of historic Apollo 11 material, including a flown Apollo 11 rotational control handle shared by moonwalker Buzz Aldrin and Command Module Pilot Michael Collins during mankind’s first lunar landing mission.
• And 29 lots of Apollo 17 material from the last lunar landing mission of Apollo, including fantastic lunar orbit items such as a flown 17 foot long lunar orbit map and lunar orbit EVA cue card, and lunar surface EVA cue cards and a lunar surface EVA map plate used aboard the lunar rover. 
• An absolutely amazing gold plated Lunar Traverse Gravimeter, a production model of the same gravimeter used on the lunar surface during the Apollo 17 mission. One of only three in existence -- one left on the lunar surface by Apollo 17, the mission’s back-up at the Smithsonian, and one other at Columbia University.
• A unique assemblage of space flown and lunar surface religious artifacts include microfilm bibles from both Apollo and the International Space station, an Earth-orbit papal flag, a lunar surface flown prayer covenant, and an astounding 750+ page full-text daily prayer and devotional book flown and used aboard Skylab and one of the very few space flown books available to private collectors.
• And many, many more exciting and historic lots.

The auction includes numerous autographs from Wernher von Braun to Neil Armstrong; from astronauts such as Cernan, Lovell, Anders, to cosmonauts such as Gagarin, Leonov, and Tereshkova; to some of America’s earliest aviation pioneers like Earhart, Lindbergh, Hughes and Wright.

“Our last auction set record prices for many classes of this material. Aviation and space enthusiasts will not be disappointed,” said Livingston. “Obviously, there are too many lots to list in a single press release, so I encourage everyone interested to get online and preview the entire catalog. The auction goes live on May 16^th, and global interest is expected to be intense.”

For more information on this historic auction, including how to order a catalog, how to bid online, and to see the full 850+ lot description preview, please go to the RRAuction website at www.rrauction.com. Or contact Bobby Livingston at bl@rrauction.com.