Buzz Aldrin's Apollo 11 "saveship" pen sells for $857,600

A felt-tip pen that astronaut Buzz Aldrin used to make a critical repair on the Apollo 11 mission, along with the broken circuit breaker it fixed, sold for $857,600 at a Sotheby's auction in New York on July 15. The pen, a Duro "Rocket" model, was instrumental in enabling Aldrin and Neil Armstrong to return to Earth.

The incident occurred in 1969 as the astronauts prepared to leave the lunar surface. Aldrin discovered that a plastic lever on a circuit breaker that ignited the ascent engine had broken off. Without it, their Lunar Module, the Eagle, could not have taken off.

Aldrin recalled in his autobiography that he improvised a solution by using the felt-tip pen to connect the circuit. This allowed the ascent engine to fire, permitting their departure from the moon and a successful rendezvous with Michael Collins in the command module.

The pen and broken part were part of a larger collection of over 40 items from Aldrin's personal memorabilia, which collectively sold for more than $2.8 million. The auction highlighted the historical significance of items from the Apollo program and the growing market for space exploration artifacts.