Dozens of artifacts from Apollo lunar missions were auctioned off this week, among them: a hand controller used during the Apollo 15 Lunar Module "Falcon."
The controller, which was the biggest seller, was used by Commander Dave Scott to help land him and pilot James Irwin on the moon on July 30, 1971, according to CNN.
It was purchased by an anonymous European client for $610,063.
"It's a very important hand controller. It was the most used of all the missions," according to Bobby Livingston, executive vice president of New Hampshire-based RR Auction.
A cloth American flag that was taken to the moon's surface was also one of the 500 aviation and space exploration artifacts sold at auction this week.
"To be honest with you, there's only 12 men who walked on the moon out of 105 billion people who have walked on this earth since humankind started walking upright," Larry McGlynn, the newest owner of the American flag, said to CNN. "These are incredibly rare items."
The 2.5 inch-by-1.75 inch commemorative American flag framed with an Apollo 15 uniform patch, which also went to the moon, was sold to McGlyn for $27,741.35, according to Livingston.
A crewman optical alignment sight sold for over $126,000, according to CNN.
All three items were from Scott personal collection.
"These items represent the pinnacle of Apollo-era flown material," said Richard Jurek, co-author of "Marketing the Moon: The Selling of the Apollo Lunar Program," according to CNN. "While risking their lives during the most critical and historic phases of their mission -- these are the items that the astronauts personally selected to retain as mementos from arguably the greatest technological and engineering achievement of the 20th century."
Approximately 70 items from Apollo 11 were also sold at auction, including pieces from the personal collections of Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the moon.
Many of the collectors grew up watching America's space program and feel a close connection to the pieces.
"I actually saw an American flag like the one I bought at a geology professor's house years ago," McGlynn said. "These astronauts resonate. People love the heroism and the sophistication," Livingston said. "You have to remember, everyone from Galileo to Einstein to Neil Armstrong looked up to the moon, wanting to figure out how to get there and these astronauts were able to get up there and come back down."
See Now: OnePlus 6: How Different Will It Be From OnePlus 5?
