Apollo 16 was the tenth manned mission in the Apollo program and the fifth to land on the Moon. That landing almost didn't take place due to a malfunction in the command module, but land it did and saw Charles Duke and the space-seasoned John Young walk on the moon.
Many people might think that by this time the missions wouldn't be generating any really valuable memorabilia. Of course it's a given that anything flown to the moon is valuable, but perhaps not in the same league as earlier missions.
However, in fact one piece of memorabilia turned out to be a big hit at last year's space sale at Bonhams in June: The cuff checklist used by Lunar Module Pilot Charles Duke, Jr., during the second and third lunar surface explorations of the Apollo 16 mission.
The piece had two sources of value: awe and quirkiness. It was confirmed as having spent 12 hours exposed to the airless 'atmosphere' of the moon, but also contained a surprise for Duke with a rude hand-drawn cartoon showing an astronaut in the arms of a nude woman. It sold for $206,000.
So an Apollo 16 cue card coming onto the market isn't something for investors to dismiss lightly, and one has recently become available.
Not only did this cue card went to the lunar surface along with John Young and Charlie Duke on Apollo 16 but it also brought back a "ton" of tiny real moonrocks that got stuck in the velcro glue during the flight.
This cuecard is about 4x6 inch large and printed on both sides. Charlie Duke has certified the card itself, indicating that it contains various communication modes in the LM as flown to the lunar surface.
 Apollo 16 flown cue card |
Additionally there's an 8x10 letter of Duke certifying the card again and giving some other background info about the card. Duke also states that the dark smudges are lunar dust from the Apollo 16 landing site in his opinion which has been confirmed by analysis.
This is a rare opportunity to own a surface flown artifact with attached lunar material, and the card is being offered at a quite reasonable $15,000.
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