Apollo 11 Lunar Dust Collected by Neil Armstrong May Auction for $1.2 Million

Next month, a sample of moon dust gathered by Neil Armstrong during the Apollo 11 mission will be auctioned in New York. The lunar sample is projected to garner approximately $1.2 million at a Bonhams auction of rare space-related items. And, according to an odd set of circumstances, this will be the first time NASA-verified moon dust will be sold lawfully.

The historic auction also serves as a warning that NASA is losing control of not just its own moon dust, but also the moon itself to some extent. While NASA is rushing to begin the Artemis program, a series of lunar missions that will resume where Apollo left off, other countries are planning their own lunar excavation projects.

While collecting more recent lunar samples may be important for scientific studies, they will not have the same historical value as the dust gathered when humans first set foot on the moon. Moon dust has been somewhat of a popular item since the Apollo missions brought back the first samples of it.

NASA retrieved roughly 2,200 samples of rocks, core, pebbles, sand, and dust from the moon between 1969 and 1972, the majority of which were stored for research. However, a few private persons have obtained NASA’s moon dust through a variety of events ranging from chance to outright theft, and some have even attempted to sell it.

NASA has claimed that these individuals are in unauthorized possession of agency property, and the government has used complex and at times odd sting operations to collect its lunar samples over the years. However, one item has stayed out of NASA’s grasp: the lunar dust that is currently being auctioned off by Bonhams.

With many other countries seeking a stake in the moon and with Russia and China launching rovers to the lunar surface, the race to profit from the resources of the moon, whether its rare metals or simply dust is well underway. Aptly named, the lunar gold rush, the resources of the moon is estimated to be worth trillions. For the collector, this rare moon dust collection being auctioned by Bonhams is the closest they may get to owning a piece of the moon.