Neil Armstrong and his fellow Apollo 11 crew Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins autographed hundreds of envelopes which their families could sell and make money in case they didn’t return home during the moon mission in 1969. As the astronauts could not afford life insurance, Neil came up with the idea considering the extreme danger they were about to face. Fortunately, those autographed envelopes weren’t needed, as the astronauts returned safely to Earth after the moon-landing feat.
Armstrong’s envelopes have spent decades as a family heirloom. Now they’re giving one away for a good cause. The family donated the envelope to be auctioned off to support the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, The money will go towards building a legacy of new firsts, whether it’s the first manned mission to an asteroid, to Mars or beyond. The foundation, established by the Mercury 7 astronauts, promotes educational opportunities in the sciences.
This is the first time one of the envelopes has been offered up by the Armstrong estate, but previous envelopes have sold for thousands of dollars at auction. The minimum bid for the Armstrong envelope is $15,000. It’s the crown jewel of the auction, which also features an opportunity to have dinner with Jim Lovell for a minimum bid of $4,500.
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