by Brooke Kennedy
Items from the personal collection of Apollo astronaut Alan Bean are heading to auction in Boston.
The fourth person to walk on the moon, Bean was lunar module pilot for NASA’s second moon landing, the Apollo 12 mission. After flying as a test pilot in various types of aircraft, in October 1963 he was selected as a member of the third group of astronauts and later served as a backup crew member for Gemini 10 and Apollo 9. After a storied career, Bean retired and began painting the celestial scenes he experienced during his time as an astronaut. Among the items in this collection are personal artifacts and extensive collections that are any space collector’s dream.
Encompassing over 130 Robbins medallions, this archive features unflown medals from nearly every Space Shuttle mission. The set includes restruck medallions for the tragic STS-51L and STS-107 missions, early missions like STS-2, STS-3, STS-4, STS-5, and STS-6, STS-111 (only 94 of these for this mission were produced), and the first mission where a shuttle docked at a space station, STS-71. The collection is expected to go for $20,000. A separate collection of unflown medallions from the International Space Station missions will also be available. Both archives are accompanied by a provenance letter from Bean.
There will be several flown items from the Apollo 12 mission including a gold cross pendant, angel charm, and ballpoint pen.
As for personal everyday items, there will be a selection of clothing such as shirts, pants, and jewelry and miscellaneous items like action figures, keepsakes, and coins. His collection of awards presents a plethora of honors he received throughout his legendary career: a medallion from the San Diego Air & Space Museum when he was inducted into their International Air & Space Hall of Fame in 2010, a Kingdom of Morocco ‘Rabat Medallion,” a “Distinguished Achievement” medal from CIBA-GEIGY Composite Materials, and several more.
Prior to this auction, RR was selected to facilitate the sale of his 18K gold Omega Speedmaster Professional 1969 Apollo 11 commemorative watch for $302,500.
All items originate directly from the Bean family. Bean’s archive will join the sale along with the personal collection of fellow NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell. The Space auction is now open for bidding and closes October 24, 2024.
