To the Moon and back: Apollo 11 Lunar Checklist sold at auction

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Apollo 11 lunar checklist and flight plans offer glimpse into history

Auction house Sotheby's shows off the lunar surface checklist sheet and flight plans used by the Apollo 11 astronauts.

A checklist that traveled to the surface of the Moon with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin has been sold at auction in New York for $62,500.

The incredible Lunar Surface Checklist Sheet accompanied the Apollo 11 astronauts in the Lunar Module Eagle. “It records the steps that they were to follow before they stepped out on the lunar surface," explained Cassandra Hatton, vice president and senior vice president for books and manuscripts at auction house Sotheby’s, in an interview with Fox News.

The Checklist Sheet was sold to an unnamed private American collector. The document, which is signed by Buzz Aldrin, had a pre-sale estimate of $40,000 to $60,000.

TO THE MOON AND BACK: APOLLO 11 LUNAR CHECKLIST OFFERS GLIMPSE INTO HISTORIC MISSION

An Apollo 11 Flight Plan sheet used by Neil Armstrong was sold to a private American collector for $75,000. The document, described by Aldrin as “one of Neil Armstrong’s most extensive set of notes made in the entire flight plan,” had a pre-sale estimate of $40,000 to $60,000.

Another Apollo 11 Flight Plan sheet, which had a pre-sale estimate of $30,000 to $50,000, did not find a buyer.

However, three tiny Moon rocks brought back from space by the unmanned Soviet Luna-16 mission were sold for $855,000 at the Sotheby’s auction. The rocks had a pre-sale estimate of $700,000 to $1 million.

MOON ROCKS RETRIEVED BY SOVIET SPACE MISSION SOLD FOR $855G

Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 Moon landing.

There is great interest in Moon-related artifacts. Last year, for example, a bag filled with Moon dust filled by Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong was sold by Sotheby’s for $1.8 million.

The bag had previously been misidentified and mistakenly sold at an online government auction for $995. The Chicago-area woman who purchased the bag won an intense court battle with NASA, which attempted to retrieve the artifact.

The Associated Press contributed to this article. Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers