Rare joysticks from the Apollo 11 command module, used to guide astronauts to the Moon, sold for more than $780,000 at auction—much to NASA's dismay.
On July 18, coinciding with the 51st anniversary of humanity's first Moon landing, Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills sold two attitude control sticks and a manual translation control from the Columbia command module.
The spin control handle, positioned near Neil Armstrong's right hand, fetched $370,000. A second attitude control stick, used by lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin, sold for $256,000. These joysticks enabled precise adjustments to the command module's roll, pitch, and yaw.
The T-shaped translation control handle, operated by Armstrong and command module pilot Michael Collins, went for $152,250. It played a key role in docking with the Eagle lunar module and could have been used for an abort maneuver if needed—thankfully, it wasn't.
These controls were removed from the spacecraft about two months after the astronauts' return and offered to them, but declined. Mounted on a custom wooden plaque, they languished in storage at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston for over 15 years.
In 1985, as he neared retirement, machine shop head Bill Whipkey rediscovered them. His supervisor instructed disposal, per a 2018 NASA Office of Inspector General audit report, but Whipkey took them home instead. He later sold them to a collector.
In 2013, NASA attempted to recover Aldrin's control from an RR Auction sale in Boston and searched for the others to display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. After three years, the agency abandoned the effort.
The auction also featured a spacesuit from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which sold for $370,000—the most expensive film costume of its kind ever auctioned.
