Several models, such as one of the Apollo command module capsule from 1962, are part of the auction. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Among the spacesuits on display are a mock-up of the Z7L spacesuit (L), the Apollo prototype A6L spacesuit (C), and the Sokol KR spacesuit. In the foreground are a Space Shuttle Spacelab computer and an advertising model. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Gemini G2-G prototype gloves from a spacesuit made for Alan Shepard in 1963. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Among the models are the Apollo spacecraft contractor's models (C-top and R), contractor's lunar lander model (L), an Apollo lunar module model (2nd-L), Nimbus satellite model (C-bottom) and NASA Biosatellite-3 contractor's model (2nd-R). Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
The official contractor's lunar lander model, issued by the spacecraft builder Grumman. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
A page of the flight plan from Apollo 11. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Firing room control panels used to launch Apollo 8, 11, 17 and four other Apollo missions. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Firing room control panels used to launch Apollo 8, 11, 17, and four other Apollo missions. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
A boost cover release port label salvaged from the command module. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Six American passports issued to astronaut Neil Armstrong. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Lunar surface maps. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Twenty Apollo firing room control panels. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
A page of the flight plan from Apollo 11. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
An Apollo 11 check list. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Original, first-generation NASA videotape recordings of the Apollo 11 Lunar extra vehicular activity. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Signed prints of the astronauts from Apollo 11. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Original first-generation NASA videotape recordings of the Apollo 11 lunar EVA. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Historic Omega Speedmaster watches are part of the auction. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Historic Omega Speedmaster watches. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Authentication for the Omega Speedmaster watches. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
July 12 (UPI) -- Sotheby's this weekend will begin displaying items from the collections of astronauts involved in NASA's mission to land on the moon ahead of a planned New York auction later this month.
The collection includes a variety of items used in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions, including Buzz Aldrin's flight plan from Apollo 11, flags flown on board Apollo 9 and Apollo 10, and photographs taken by NASA senior photographer Bill Taub.
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The exhibit and July 20 auction coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, in which Aldrin and Neil Armstrong became the first men to walk on the moon.
Sotheby's said the collection explores the collections of "several of the astronauts who risked their lives in the pursuit of President John F. Kennedy's ambitious and dramatic goal of 'landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth ... ."
From the collection of Russell Schweickart, lunar module pilot for Apollo 9, are a silver commemorative medallion, a U.S flag and a U.N. flag, each of which flew on the mission. Jim Lovell's orbital charts and a cloth emblem from Apollo 13 also are included, as well as John Young's flags from Apollo 10, and a piece of the heat shield and an insignia patch from Gemini 10.
Several photos taken by Taub, who covered every major NASA event from the beginning of project Mercury until the end of project Apollo.
"I had the privilege to be there to record it," Taub, who died in 2010, said in a previous interview. "I made sure I recorded it to the best of my ability, because I have a sense of history."
Also included in the Space Exploration exhibit and auction are artworks inspired by the space programs including paintings by Alan Bean and Chesley Bonestell, and models of scientific equipment and spacecraft such as the Apollo lunar module, the Apollo capsule module and the Nimbus satellite.