LOS ANGELES, CA.- Julien’s Auctions has launched “HISTORY, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY” an auction event offering over 250 historical objects from the world’s greatest leaders and legends, who led and transformed the worlds of arts and entertainment, history and politics, as well as a number of rare artifacts used in space exploration, military conflict and scientific discovery taking place online Thursday, February 1st at Julien’s Auctions.
Man’s thrilling journey through space and epic missions into the universe will be highlighted with a special collection of spacecraft hardware from NASA’s Apollo and Space Shuttle programs including original Saturn-5 rocket telemetry units; beta-cloth insulation panels used to protect the space shuttle orbiters from solar radiation; orbiter heat shield "Fit Check" tiles; solid rocket booster system tunnel insulation struts; space-flown orbiter wing insulator panels; a space-flown solid rocket booster lid; official NASA "red number" photographs of the 1981 launch of STS-1 Columbia, the planet Saturn taken by the Voyager 2 space probe, the first crewed Skylab mission, Skylab 2 with Joseph Kerwin, Charles "Pete" Conrad, and Paul Weitz, astronaut John Young flying the Space Shuttle Columbia while in earth's orbit in 1981, Earth from the Sky Lab 3 mission in 1973 and others; a rare selection of photographs hand signed by famed astronauts such as three portrait photographs of Apollo 11 crew members, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins and matted together with NASA and mission badges, and a replica moon landing plaque (estimate: $300 - $500); an Apollo 11 "Buzz" Aldrin signed color lithograph of Aldrin on the lunar surface on July 20th, 1969, when he became one of two people to have ever walked on the moon (the other was Mission Commander Neil Armstrong, who took the photo) (estimate: $1,000 - $2,000); a Charlie Duke signed "Plum Crater" lithograph taken during Apollo 16, Duke's only spaceflight in 1972 when he became the youngest person to walk on the moon (estimate: $800 - $1,200); a pair of Nems Clarke brand ASU-101 type Antenna Switching Units from Charles Henry Bell, an IBM telemetry engineer who began working on the instrument unit of the Saturn rocket in the fall of 1965, and who in March of 1967 (following the tragic Apollo 1 fire which killed astronauts, Grissom, Chaffee, and White) was recommended for a Manned Flight Awareness Award for his efforts to fix a calculation error problem with AS-204; Apollo command module cryogenic oxygen system unit, a communication box and more.
Many important items steeped in military history and conflict will also be featured such as uniforms, accessories, newspapers and everyday objects such as: an original British Army Brodie military helmet used during World War I by James Gregory, a Royal Garrison Artillery Gunner, who was born on August 18th, 1891 (estimate: $300 -$500); an original World War I era United States Marine Corps wool uniform including tunic and trousers (estimate:$300 - $500); a WWI German Pickelhaube helmet (estimate: $300 - $500); a collection of decorations, markers, pins and, badges belonging to those who served during World War I and World War II (estimate: $400 - $600); an original WWII United States Army "Ike" jacket (estimate: $200 - $300); a set of the first five issues of “Cent Soixante Six” a news periodical for the 166th Aero Squadron, an American bomber and reconnaissance aviation group from World War One published from November 25th of 1918 to February of 1919 ($100 - $200); as well as an original WWII United States army wool coat, a United States Army Korean War era trench coat, World War II field jacket and more.
The literary greats, scientific pioneers and political minds from these eras will be represented with signed notes and ephemera including (range estimate from $100 - $2,000): Sir Walter Scott signed 1819 promissory note made out to Scott in the amount of twelve hundred pounds; a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer payroll account check (dated November 20th, 1935) for American writer Dorothy Parker, in the amount of $1,150.00; a typed 1959 letter from author Hunter S. Thompson to “Arty,” signed by a 22-year-old Thompson who describes an annoying incident involving a presumed former High School classmate, how bleak things have been; his short-lived attempt to earn money by driving a taxi cab; and how his mother keeps asking him when he’s going to finish his book; a sheet of paper signed in blue ink by Albert Einstein framed together with a portrait image of the famed physicist; a collection of eulogies, correspondence, and ephemera relating to the death of President John F. Kennedy, featuring statements from notable figures in history, most of which have been hand signed, such as appreciation cards from both Jacqueline Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, a transcribed speech to the United States Senate signed by Ted Kennedy, an excerpt from John F. Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage signed by Robert Kennedy, and letters, correspondence and statements from John C. McCormack (U.S. House of Representatives), Theodore C. Sorensen (Special Council to the President), Evelyn Lincoln (Secretary to the Late President), Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. (Special Assistant to the President), Richard M. Nixon, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Adlai E. Stevenson, New York Governor Nelson A . Rockefeller and many others; and an original note from former First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy handwritten and signed to Dr. Howard T. Behrman that mentions a box she brought him from Cambodia, her historic visit to the country in November of 1967, which will be the subject of a soon-to-be made Netflix film.
Other top highlights include:
•U.S. Air Force pilot Chuck Yeager signed Bell X-1 Model rocket research plane (estimate: $600- $800).
•An original cloche hat from Amelia Earhart Fashions, the 1933 fashion line designed by the aviator to help fund her ill-fated circumnavigation of the globe ($2,000 - $3,000).
•A handwritten and signed letter from the eminent psychiatrist, Carl Jung to Dr. Rivkah Scharf Kluger dated 1957 written in German, in which Jung responds to Scharf’s comments about his manuscript, and on her interpretations of God (estimate: $300- $500).
•A color lithograph depicting the Hubble Space Telescope, signed by STS-31 Mission Specialist 3 Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, the first woman to complete a spacewalk, with a quotation from Dr. Edwin Hubble “The history of astronomy is a / history of receding horizons”) inscribed by her above the signature (estimate: $800 - $1,200)
•A group of relics from the Great Sioux War of 1876, where the Battle of the Little Bighorn took place, also known as Custer’s Last Stand; where the forces of the U.S. 7th Cavalry were defeated by members of the Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes, surrounded by a row of decorative arrowheads and housed in a display box (estimate: $100 - $200).
•An American flag that was flown aboard the third flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-3) while in orbit around Earth featuring launch art that was presented to Mildred F. Fridie in recognition of her contributions to the mission (estimate: $200 - $300). A "Type 1" Photo of Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong on the lunar surface (estimate: $200 - $300).
“From the first mission to the moon to the seismic World Wars to the scientific and literary breakthroughs that changed society and culture, this remarkable collection of artifacts spans over 300 years of human history,” said Martin Nolan, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Julien’s Auctions. “Many of these rich and important museum worthy objects represent the powerful achievements of the great innovators and trailblazers whose impact on the world helped created the modern age.”
