Astronomic prices

Mar 25 2008

Patches from astronaut Buzz Aldrin's Gemini 12 spacesuit are expected to sell for as much as £37,000 at a public auction.

Aldrin's patches - given to his parents in 1966 "with a grateful son's love", according to the inscription - are among the more expensive items available at a sale in Dallas, Texas, of air and space artefacts.

A scoop used by astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell to pick up moon dust on the 1971 Apollo 14 mission is expected to sell for as much as £150,000.