NASA flight suits bought for $1.20 could fetch thousands

Aug. 15 (UPI) -- A pair of Florida college students browsing the racks at a thrift shop ended up paying $1.20 for a stack of NASA flight suits that experts said could be worth more than $5,000.

Talia Rappa and Skyer Ashworth said they were shopping at a thrift store in Titusville when they came across the five blue NASA flight suits and a white "control suit" under some sweaters in a plastic bin.

"They were kind of in a weird corner," Rappa told WKMG-TV. "He [Skylar] pulled them all out at first, then brought the whole handful over to me."

The students ended up paying 20 cents each for the suits.

"It just blows my mind," Ashworth said, "It [the plastic bin] was under two other big totes, I moved them off to the side and I'm digging through a whole bunch of sweaters and stuff, and I found the white one with the patch just kind of laying there."

The American Space Museum said the names and flight dates on the suits' labels match the time frame of the 1983-1985 shuttle missions flown by astronauts George "Pinky" Nelson, Robert A. Parker and Charles D. Walker.

Ashworth, who was accepted into Eastern Florida State College's aerospace program, said NASA is in his blood.

"My parents worked NASA communications with the shuttle program," he said, "and my grandfather even worked communications with the shuttle."

The students said they plan to auction the suits at a special auction hosted by the American Space Museum. A portion of the funds raised by the auction will go toward both students' college tuition and some will be donated to the museum.

Experts said the suits could fetch $5,000 or more.

The auction is scheduled to begin Nov. 4, with bids being accepted in person at the Titusville museum, as well as on its website, spacewalkoffame.org.