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Sotheby’s Space Odyssey

With Artemis and SpaceX igniting a renewed sense of energy around the great beyond, a new crop of collectors are chasing relics from the space race: mission-flown flags, capsule parts, and even meteorites. Once caught in legal limbo, NASA’s wares are becoming the most-compelling historical objects in Sotheby’s Geek Week.

Buzz Aldrin
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin walking on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Photo: NASA/AFP/Getty Images
George Nelson
July 10, 2026

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Of all the blockbuster lots offered at Sotheby’s worldwide auctions this year—from Gustav Klimt masterpieces to $10 million Birkin bags—it may be a simple brushed aluminum pen that is the house’s true M.V.P. The Duro marker carried by Buzz Aldrin on Apollo 11 became an improvised lifesaving tool when a broken circuit breaker threatened to strand the astronauts on the lunar surface. It’s being offered against a $1.2 million high estimate in the live Space Exploration sale that kicks off on July 15.