Buzz Aldrin's moon jacket fetches $2.8M at Sotheby's auction
Buzz Aldrin's Inflight Coverall Jacket, worn by him on his Apollo 11 mission to the Moon is on display July 21, 2022 during a media preview at Sotheby’s in New York. (AFP)


A jacket that American astronaut Buzz Aldrin put on during the iconic first mission to the moon's surface in 1696 has fetched $2.8 million at an auction by Sotheby's.

The $2,772,500 paid for the Apollo 11 Inflight Coverall Jacket is the highest for any American space-flown artifact sold at auction, according to Sotheby's, which handled the sale. The unidentified winning bidder, who participated by phone, outlasted several others in bidding that spanned almost 10 minutes.

MTV 1984 Video Music Award trophy presented to Buzz Aldrin is on display July 21, 2022 during a media preview at Sotheby’s in New York. (AFP)
In this file photo taken on July 21, 2022, Buzz Aldrin's Inflight Coverall Jacket, worn on his Apollo 11 mission to the Moon, is displayed during a media preview at Sotheby’s in New York. (AFP)

The jacket displays Aldrin’s name tag on the left breast above the Apollo 11 mission emblem and the American flag on the left shoulder. It is made of a fire-resistant material known as Beta cloth that was incorporated in spacesuits in response to the fire that killed three astronauts aboard Apollo 1 in 1967, according to Sotheby's.

Aldrin and Neil Armstrong became the first astronauts to walk on the moon on July 20, 1969.

In this July 20, 1969 photo made available by NASA, astronaut Buzz Aldrin Jr. poses for a photograph beside the U.S. flag on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. (AP)