Summary
14 April 2010
A piece of paper from the flight plan of the Apollo 11 moon landing has been sold in New York. The document was signed by Neil Armstrong, the first astronaut to walk on the moon in July 1969.
Reporter:
Emilio San Pedro
A man on the moon
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Report
It was bound to be among the most popular items in the sale of space memorabilia at the Bonham's auction house in New York.
And, in the end, the document bearing Neil Armstrong's signature didn't disappoint. It was sold for $152,000.
Not a bad price for what some might describe as a simple piece of paper - except that besides the famous astronaut's signature, the document also has, in Mr Armstrong's handwriting, that famous phrase he coined:
"One small step for a man - one giant leap for mankind."
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Vocabulary
- astronaut
person whose job it is to travel to outer space and explore the area outside the Earth's atmosphere
- it was bound to be
it was expected that
- memorabilia
objects that are collected because they are connected with a person or event which is thought to be very interesting
- auction house
place where objects are sold publicly and people make higher and higher offers of money until the object is sold to the person who is willing to pay most
- bearing
having or containing
- signature
the way someone writes their name when they put it on official documents (for example, cheques, passports, etc.)
- not a bad price
a very good amount of money for which something is sold
- handwriting
text written with a pen or pencil (not written on a typewriter or computer)
- phrase he coined
expression or saying that he used for the first time which then became famous
- one giant leap
a very big step, almost a jump
