22.10.2026

Despite a media blitz that generated news coverage across Central Florida, the American Space Museum's Oct. 17 charity memorabilia auction drew few bidders — and pioneering NASA moonwalker Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 training flight jacket and trousers failed to sell.

Armstrong's custom-sewn jacket had been projected to fetch $800,000 to $1.2 million, while his matching white trousers were expected to sell for $50,000 to $75,000. But oddly, the online auction and its 395 lots only attracted about 108 participants, said Charles Jeffrey, the auctioneer and owner of Bid Again Auctions of Orlando.

The American Space Museum's charitable auctions typically draw 300 to 500 bidders, Jeffrey said. He donates a portion of his company's net proceeds to the Titusville nonprofit museum, which has used auction funding to finance capital improvement upgrades the past 13 years.

Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 in-flight jacket used for Earth-based training is offered for auction sale by the American Space Museum in Titusville.

"Almost none of the high-end items sold. A lot of the normal stuff we sell didn't sell," Jeffrey said.

"It is what it is. It was depressing in every sense of the word," he said.

Armstrong's jacket is owned by a 95-year-old Alabama man who worked for ILC Dover, NASA's primary spacesuit manufacturer, Jeffrey said during the Oct. 5 episode of American Space Museum's "Stay Curious" webcast. He did not disclose Saturday's highest bid for the garment, but he said it clocked in so low that "it wasn't even in the realm of rational reality."

He said NASA only produced three inflight coverall jackets for Armstrong for Apollo 11 training. One jacket is stored at the Smithsonian at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Regardless of Saturday's lower-than-expected turnout, Jeffrey said the auction should generate $1,800 to $2,500 for the space museum. Looking ahead, he said the consigners of Armstrong's jacket will probably try using a different auction house.

"I appreciate the opportunity. It didn't work out, but it brought some great attention to the museum and a very good cause. So you've got to look at the bright side," said Jeffrey, who is an American Space Museum board member and volunteer.

Though Armstrong's Apollo 11 jacket did not sell, Museum Director Mark Marquette said, "we couldn't buy the amount of publicity that we generated."

Meagan Happel, Space Coast Office of Tourism public relations manager and film commissioner, said it was exciting to see an artifact of the jacket's import featured in the auction.

"The American Space Museum is one of our best hidden gems where you can get up close to items donated straight from people who worked on these programs and hear stories from space workers leading tours," Happel said in an email.

Quelle: Florida Today