The clock is ticking again on an auction of space exploration artifacts, though this time it shouldn’t be just any timing device driving the bids.
The “satellite clock” that flew as a part of the instrument panel aboard Aurora 7, NASA astronaut Scott Carpenter’s Mercury spacecraft, is among the many greater than 400 lots now open for bidding as a part of RR Auction’s latest sale of space and aviation memorabilia. The net auction, which also features the soil scoop utilized by Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke on the lunar surface, runs through Oct. 19.
“This clock was on the instrument panel of my spacecraft, Aurora 7, during my Earth orbital spaceflight on 24 May, 1962, which was america’ second manned orbital flight. It was given to me by the MA-7 [Mercury-Atlas 7] launch crew,” wrote Carpenter in a letter that accompanies the clock. Carpenter died in 2013; the clock was consigned for auction by his family.
The clock, which continues to be operational, features five essential components: a “time of day” clock with 24-hour and 60-minute/second dials; a telelight button for “5 Min to Retrograde;” three digital counters for “Retrograde Time,” “Time from Launch” and “Time to Retrograde;” and a retrograde time reset handle. After its return to Earth, the machine was mounted right into a mantel-style display piece, which bears a gold-tone plate with an engraved inscription dedicating the artifact to Carpenter.
Carpenter referenced the clock throughout his nearly five-hour mission. In a single such instance as he prepared to return to back Earth, Carpenter called right down to Mission Control and made mention of considered one of the displays. “Five minutes to retrograde, light is on. I actually have a rate of descent, too, of about 10, 12 feet per second.”
Surrounding the unique artifact is an inventory of key times from the MA-7 flight, including liftoff, booster engine cutoff, sustainer engine cutoff, capsule separation, apogee, perigee, retro fire, drogue chute deploy, essential parachute deploy and splashdown (labeled “Impact”). The front plate also accommodates 4 more buttons and switches, and a two-prong power cord extends out from the clock’s paneled base, which will be opened to disclose the clock’s inner workings.
Inside is an influence supply schematic and handwritten notes by the craftsman who built the clock’s presentation case and Guenter Wendt, who oversaw each of the Mercury astronauts as they climbed into their spacecraft for launch. Wendt, who died in 2010, wrote in jest, “Keep your #6I/#@ hands off!! Ye old PAD FUHRER.”
RR Motion estimates the clock will sell for greater than $100,000. With seven days to go, the lot (no. 7001) has attracted 12 bids totaling just over $14,000.
One other highlight of the sale is the big adjustable scoop that was utilized by each Apollo 16 moonwalkers, lunar module pilot Charlie Duke and commander John Young, to assist in the gathering of 211 kilos (95.8 kilograms) of lunar material for its return to Earth. The news is considered one of only two such tools to be brought back from the moon. (The others were left on the lunar surface to save lots of weight.)
“I had to select up a rock that was probably the dimensions of a watermelon, and I couldn’t pick it up with one hand. So I put the shovel down and leaned towards it, and rolled this rock up my side with my right hand, and was in a position to roll it up my leg and cradle it like a little bit baby, and take it back to the lunar module,” wrote Duke of using the news, or “shovel” as he described it, to gather what became referred to as “Big Muley,” the most important specimen retrieved during all the Apollo program.
The 13.75-by-4.5-by-2-inch (35 by 11.4 by 5 centimeters) scoop is accompanied by an in depth letter of provenance signed by Charlie Duke, who attests to the tool’s use on the lunar surface,
“From the moment Charlie Duke offered this scoop to us, I knew it was a very powerful lunar artifact we have ever offered,” said Bobby Livingston, executive vice present at RR Auction, in an announcement. “This shovel not only frolicked on the lunar surface, it frolicked three feet contained in the lunar surface, which makes it an exceptional collectable.”
RR estimates the Apollo 16-used lunar soil scoop (lot no. 7197) to sell for greater than $750,000. As of Thursday (Oct. 12), 13 bids had pledged greater than $80,000.
Other stand-out lots from the present sale include Dave Scott’s complete Apollo 15 Data Book, which landed with him on the moon (lot no. 7175, est. $50,000+); Pete Conrad’s Apollo 12 command module translational hand controller grip (lot no. 7116, est. $40,000) and a recovered aluminum brace from SpaceX’s Starship, which crashed during its first flight in December 2020 (lot no. 7364, est. $5,000).
Along with Mercury, Apollo and SpaceX artifacts, the sale also has artifacts and memorabilia from the Gemini program, Skylab and the space shuttle. A federal law passed in 2012 confirmed the rights of Apollo-era astronauts to retain items from their spacecraft.
Click through to collectSPACE to observe Scott Carpenter’s satellite clock in motion and listen to Charlie Duke describe his moon rock scoop.