Buzz Aldrin’s Apollo 11 Mission-Saving Pen Forecast to Fetch Over $800,000

Buzz Aldrin’s Felt-Tip Pen Auctioned at Sotheby’s

A dented silver plastic Duro Rocket felt-tip pen used by Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin to fix a broken circuit breaker and escape from the moon in 1969 is currently up for auction in New York. The item, which comes alongside the broken piece of the circuit breaker, is estimated by Sotheby’s to sell for between $800,000 and $1.2m. Both items originate from Aldrin’s personal collection and will be featured in Sotheby’s Space Exploration auction, which is scheduled to begin on July 15 at 2pm GMT.

The Mechanical Failure on the Lunar Surface

The Broken Apollo 11 Circuit Breaker Switch

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent approximately three hours collecting rock and dust samples from the moon’s surface. As the pair prepared to get some sleep after their first moon walk and were climbing back into the Lunar Module to fly home, Aldrin hit the module’s circuit breaker switch with the life support backpack on his spacesuit. The switch snapped off, creating a critical situation. As Aldrin wrote in his 2009 autobiography Magnificent Desolation: “My heart jolted a bit … The broken switch had snapped off from the engine-arm circuit breaker, the one vital breaker needed to send electrical power to the ascent engine that would lift Neil and me off the moon.”

The situation threatened to leave the crew stuck on the moon for ever. Regarding the incident, Armstrong later told ABC News: He could’ve picked something that was not very important. But he banged into the circuit breaker that controlled the SM engine that got us back into orbit. It was just insurance. It’s nice to get a little insurance.

Provenance and Auction Estimates

Buzz Aldrin’s Personal Responsibility for the Lunar Module Damage

The auction includes a letter of provenance provided by Sotheby’s in which Aldrin jokes: “I think Neil broke the switch off and Neil thinks that I broke the switch off.” However, in his 2016 book No Dream Is Too High, Aldrin was more willing to take personal responsibility for the event. He stated: “Because the breaker was located on my side of the capsule, I had apparently bumped it with the heavy backpack either preparing to step outside or when we had come back inside after walking on the moon.”

A Broader Collection of Space History

The Sotheby’s Space Exploration auction features 134 lots, including several iconic artifacts beyond the pen. These include flags flown in the icy vacuum of space and a piece of the first cloth used to wipe a window in space. The auction also features mission documents and various spacecraft materials.

Watches and Personal Timepieces

The Edwin Aldrin Family Trust Watch Collection

A significant portion of the auction consists of a selection of 24 watches from the Edwin Aldrin Family Trust. While Aldrin’s missing lunar-worn Omega Speedmaster Professional 105.012—which remains lost in transit to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum—is not included, the sale traces the watches he owned and collected after Apollo 11.

The lineup includes several notable Omega models. There is a new reverse panda Speedmaster 3861 in full Moonshine gold that Aldrin received earlier this year, a Moonwatch ref. 3590.50 from 1990, and a Speedmaster X-33 Gen 2 from 2010. The latter is the same model the Artemis II astronauts recently wore during their trip around the moon. Also featured is the Speedmaster HB-SIA ‘Solar Impulse’ from 2013, which is noted for its titanium case, bracelet, automatic chronograph GMT movement, and carbon fiber dial.

Rounding out the Omega lineup are a pair of De Villes, a 1980s two-tone Constellation Manhattan, and a “Bond” Seamaster Diver GMT. The collection also features a non-Omega timepiece: a LeCoultre ref. 2643, known as the “Shark Deep Sea.” The watch dates to 1970, and as the astronaut would have been at the height of his fame then, it is likely he purchased it to mark his achievement. The collection also includes a case filled with quartz souvenirs Aldrin gathered throughout his travels.

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