The only existing and original videotape of Neil Armstrong’s first step on moon will be auctioned in July. (Image via: Guinness World Records)

Rare Videotape of Neil Armstrong's Moonwalk to be Auctioned

Kirana Chandra Mumpuni Budiana
Business & Industry
Sci-Tech
Jun 30, 2019
1523
On July 20 1969, the astronaut Neil Armstrong had achieved the moon landing during the Apollo 11 mission. Four years after moon landing, Gary George stopped by a government surplus auction to browse the wares. He bought more than 1,100 reels of NASA videotapes for about $217. Among those reels, there are three rare videotapes of the moon landing. One of those three videotapes turned out to be the images of the first steps on the moon by Neil Armstrong, along with his famous words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” The other tapes show astronaut Buzz Aldrin bounding around in minimal lunar gravity, as well as the astronauts’ call with then U.S. President, Richard Nixon. Inside of the tapes there are also images of the men planting the American flag on the moon surface, collecting soil and rock samples, and much more.

The three rare videotapes have only been viewed three times. One time for the public screening in 2008, the second time in order to digitize the videotapes, and the last time was for Sotheby’s specialists. Sotheby’s said that the tapes will take the viewers to the big screen monitor at Mission Control. The images are clearer and have better contrast than the other tapes that audience watched on their television years ago. Sotheby’s specialist describe the rare videotapes as in faultless condition and have a picture quality superior to any other existing contemporary videotapes.

Sotheby’s auction will be held in next month. It coincides with 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11’s lunar landing on July 20th, 1969. The videotapes have a pre-auction estimate of between $1 million and $2 million. In 2006, NASA had admitted that no one could find the original video recordings of the historic moon landing. As for the upcoming auction, NASA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Source: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/nasa-neil-armstrong-moonwalk-videotapes-auction-853506/

NASA , Apollo , mission , Videotape , auction , astronaut , moon