It was humankind’s most momentous accomplishment, setting two astronauts on the surface of the moon for the first close-up glimpse of another celestial body.
In the minutes after Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin touched down aboard the Apollo 11 landing module, Nasa had strict plans for the pair — and allowing them to enjoy the view was not among them.
“Close shades,” the step-by-step instruction manual ordered. It was a directive that they defied as they gazed out of the window at what Aldrin would later describe as a scene of “magnificent desolation”.
The manual, complete with the astronauts’ handwritten jottings, calculations and specks of lunar dust, is the star lot at an auction in New York commemorating next month’s 50th anniversary of the landing.
