Neil Corbett

ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com

Maple Ridgesa国际传媒檚 Leslie Michael was among the hundreds of millions around the globe who, in July 1969, followed the progress of the Apollo missions closely, but hesa国际传媒檚 also a unique fan of NASA.

The 50th anniversary of Apollo 11sa国际传媒檚 moon landing is coming up on Saturday.

On July 20, 1969, NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first people to walk on the moon.

In addition to watching celebrations of the anniversary of that storied moonshot, Michael will be following the rising fortunes of a piece of personal lunar mission memorabilia which is going under the auctioneersa国际传媒檚 gavel online, via Hansonsa国际传媒檚 Auctioneers in Derbyshire, England.

Michael has always been a history buff and in the early 1960s was inspired by what was obviously going to be a great moment for humanity.

sa国际传媒淚t shows the indomitable spirit of man,sa国际传媒� he said.

In July 1969, he was in Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto, watching with thousands on a giant screen as the lunar lander touched down on the surface of the moon.

sa国际传媒淚 was in awe when I heard Neil Armstrong say, sa国际传媒楬ouston, Tranquility base here. The Eagle has landed.sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淚t was history in the making.sa国际传媒�

He remarks that it took such little time to go from the first powered flight by the Wright Brothers in 1903, to walking on the moon.

sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 a history buff sa国际传媒� Isa国际传媒檝e always been fascinated by it. Man can be a bsa国际传媒� when he destroys, but hesa国际传媒檚 amazing when he builds.sa国际传媒�

He followed NASAsa国际传媒檚 progress from the time U.S. President John F. Kennedy pledged to bring a man to the moon and bring him back safely. He didnsa国际传媒檛 have a blog, so he marked the history the way people did in 1969 sa国际传媒� with a scrap book.

Itsa国际传媒檚 been a labour of love, regularly updated, and signed by two astronauts: Aldrin, the second man on the moon, and Eugene Cernan, who was the 11th and final man on the moon.

sa国际传媒淚t took me 50 years to do it,sa国际传媒� he said, noting the autographs only came in 2010, when the two astronauts were in Vancouver for the Olympic Games.

The scrapbook is 60 pages, and full of the information that the editor Michael sa国际传媒� who is a career printer and also a published author sa国际传媒� felt should be included.

An example is a magazine advertisement of congratulations to America from Japan.

sa国际传媒淚snsa国际传媒檛 that beautiful? These two had been adversaries in World War II.sa国际传媒�

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There is also his own title to an acre of moon real estate Michael purchased from a U.S.-based lawyer who believed he was exploiting a loophole in international space law, along with a map showing his.

When he bought that, his friends started calling him sa国际传媒淟uney Leslie,sa国际传媒� he smiles.

He hates to part with his one-of-a-kind scrapbook, but his kids havensa国际传媒檛 shown proper enthusiasm for the topic.

sa国际传媒淵ou know kids these dayssa国际传媒�sa国际传媒�

So he wants to bestow it with someone who will appreciate the project.

sa国际传媒淚 feel sorry to let it go, because itsa国际传媒檚 part of my life, but Isa国际传媒檓 getting old sa国际传媒� Isa国际传媒檒l be 82 next month.sa国际传媒�

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There is an opening bid of 拢 120.

Michael notes, however that a page from the operation manual for the lunar lander that Armstrong and Aldrin used to touch down on the moon is expected to go for $7-$9 million, by Christie auction.

Those figures have got his head in space.

If the bidding for his scrapbook can get rolling, then the sky is the limit, he supposes.

sa国际传媒淎nybody can bid, the world over.sa国际传媒�

It will be from July 18-24.

ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com
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