An extraordinarily Uncommon Piece of Flight Worn Gear From Humanity's First Lunar-landed Mission is Sold by Sotheby's For a Record Price

July 2022:

Sotheby's just sold a jacket and an artefact that set records for each in the United States recently. The jacket may seem like something from a high-end fashion brand at first glance, like a Coco Chanel piece from the post-war era or something from Studio 54, but it was really the first garment worn in space by American astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

The jacket, worn by astronauts on the 1969 Apollo 11 mission to the moon, was auctioned off for $2.77 million. Mr. Aldrin's name is stitched above the mission symbol on the left breast of this beta cloth (a fabric resistant to fire) jacket. In 1968, B. Welson Co. produced it in the United States.

Buzz Aldrin, now 92 years old,

"carefully conserved the materials since his mission,"

This jacket is "an extraordinarily uncommon piece of flight worn gear from humanity's first lunar-landed mission," according to the high-end auction firm selling it.

After blastoff and the conclusion of Translunar Injection, Aldrin and the other Apollo 11 crewmembers shed their pressure garments and put on their more comfortable Inflight Coverall Garments (ICGs), which included a jacket, pants, and boots made from Beta fabric. All the way to the Moon, Aldrin and his crew wore the same outfit.