Buzz Aldrin Used This Humble Felt-Tip Pen to Save the Apollo II Astronauts. It Just Sold for More Than $850,000

A felt-tip pen that Buzz Aldrin used to jury-rig a broken switch aboard the Apollo 11 lunar module has fetched $857,600 at a Sotheby's auction in New York, underscoring the enduring appetite among collectors for tangible relics of the 1969 moon landing. The sale price far outpaced typical estimates for space memorabilia, reflecting the object's rare, direct link to a moment when the mission's safe return briefly hung in the balance.

The pen in question is not a decorative souvenir but the actual tool Aldrin reached for during a genuine emergency on the lunar surface. According to the Guardian's Paul Owen, five separate bidders competed for the item before the winning offer closed the sale, a contest that pushed the final price well above what a simple writing instrument might otherwise command.

The emergency unfolded after Aldrin and mission commander Neil Armstrong wrapped up roughly three hours exploring the moon's Sea of Tranquility and began preparing to rest inside the lander, named Eagle. As Aldrin moved around the cramped cabin, he spotted a small dark object lying on the floor. Closer inspection revealed it was a plastic switch that had snapped off one of the spacecraft's circuit breakers.

That particular breaker controlled the engine-arm circuit, the system responsible for igniting the ascent engine that would carry the astronauts off the lunar surface and back toward the command module piloted by Michael Collins, who had remained in orbit throughout the landing. In a letter documenting the artifacts' history, Aldrin recalled it as the single worst component that could have failed, since its loss threatened to strand the crew on the moon indefinitely.

Rather than the switch itself, Aldrin used the barrel of a black Duro "Rocket" pen, made from brushed aluminum, to press into the exposed opening and complete the circuit manually. The improvised fix worked, allowing the breaker to engage and clearing the way for Eagle's engine to fire on schedule the next day.

Sotheby's paired the pen with the very circuit breaker switch it had been used to bypass, giving the winning bidder both halves of the story: the tool and the broken part it replaced. Aldrin's provenance letter, cited in auction materials, frames the pen's role in blunt terms, crediting it with keeping the crew from being stuck on the moon permanently.

The sale adds to a long pattern of strong demand for Apollo-era artifacts, from flown flags to checklists and other personal items astronauts carried home, with prices for well-documented pieces routinely climbing into six and seven figures at specialty auctions. Not every space-flown object commands such sums, however, and appraisers note that verified provenance, as opposed to secondhand claims, is typically what separates a modest sale from a headline-grabbing one. The identity of the buyer was not disclosed, leaving open whether the pen will end up on public display or remain in a private collection.

Source: Smithsonian Magazine