Buzz Aldrin Moon Footprint up for Auction

The cast of a boot similar to Buzz Aldrin's moon boot from the Apollo 11 mission Photo via: artdaily.org

Ever wish you could own the first footprint from Buzz Aldrin’s moonwalk? Now you can. Well, sort of. One of the more remarkable offerings featured in Heritage Auctions’ Space Exploration Signature Auction is a plaster casting of a boot similar to the one Aldrin wore during the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing, according to Art Daily. Estimated to fetch more than $10,000, the plaster cast also features the astronaut’s 14-inch-long signature carved into the original plaster. 

The cast is one in an edition of three made by artist Josephine Mead in November 1969. While the specific boot did not, in fact, actually touch the moon, it was owned by Aldrin and was brought to the artist during the dedication of an Illinois medical center.

Despite several degrees of removal from the moon landing event itself, Heritage Auctions’ Michael Riley gushed to Art Daily: “Seeing this, it’s not hard to picture exactly what Buzz Aldrin himself saw after he took his first historic step on the lunar surface, following Neil Armstrong.”

The boot will hit the auction block on November 12th along with 375 other space-related items. Those include the particularly impressive collection of the estate of Buzz Aldrin’s sister, Fay Ann Aldrin Potter. Throughout his career, Aldrin gifted his sister a multitude of souvenirs, including the American Flag and Beta cloth mission insignia that flew on the Apollo 11 mission. The sale features offerings pertaining to Apollo missions nine through 12 and also features a baseball signed by 29 early NASA astronauts.

  • Access the data behind the headlines with the artnet Price Database.