Robert Pearlman
@collectspace.bsky.social
editor of http://collectSPACE.com, on the trail of space history artifacts, missing moon rocks and where space exploration intersects with pop culture
The European Space Agency (ESA) on Tuesday (Aug. 4) said that it has teamed with The Pokémon Company for this year's World Space Week.
Sputnik x Poké Ball: ESA and Pokémon team-up for World Space Week
A small ball was once thrown out to "catch 'em all," beginning a competition and attracting the attention of the entire world. Now, almost 70 years after the launch of Sputnik, ESA has teamed up with ...
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LEGO released its new Icons Hubble Space Telescope model on Saturday (Aug. 1), building upon its line of adult-aimed sets honoring historic NASA spacecraft.
LEGO deploys Hubble Space Telescope as detailed desktop model
In its 35 years orbiting Earth, the Hubble Space Telescope has been released as a LEGO model three times. Now, a fourth take on the telescope refocuses attention from the outside of the satellite to w...
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The rock hammer and lunar core tube bit that Alan Bean first used to collect samples of the moon before becoming part of his tools he used to impart texture to the lunar surface in his paintings have now been sold at auction.
Astronaut Alan Bean's moon artifacts-turned-artist's tools 'hammer' in $1M at auction
The unusual tools that an astronaut-turned-artist famously used to infuse not just what it felt to walk on the moon, but pieces of the moon itself, have now commanded auction results higher than some ...
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As movie fans seek "The Odyssey" IMAX camera and Disney fans look forward to getting the new "Hatbox Ghost," there is now another source for a collectible popcorn bucket: NASA.
NASA center marks 60 years of bus tours with collectible popcorn bucket
NASA has jumped on the collectible popcorn bucket bandwagon, or rather in this case, the bus. To mark the 60 years since its start as only a bus tour, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Flori...
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Ever since the Mercury 7 pilots each spent a "week in a barrel," its been known that astronauts can bring out a crowd. Now, a group of more than 100 former NASA space travelers are seeing if that can translate to bringing out more people to the polls...
Astronauts For America to deploy space travelers on mission to promote voting
A group of retired astronauts will land at college campuses and town halls this summer to promote their next mission. Astronauts For America's nonpartisan "Vote For Freedom" campaign by will see the ...
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Swatch has introduced a new MoonSwatch in tribute to the Apollo 11 lunar landing featuring gold sourced from Omega spare parts dating back to the time of the mission...
Swatch: Apply by Apollo 11 anniversary to buy '1969' limited MoonSwatch
Swatch is celebrating the 57th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission with a new, limited edition gold model of its MoonSwatch. You can buy the new Mission to the Moon 1969 wristwatch if you can land on...
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Though not a record-setting amount, the two pieces are well-known for the role they placed in the first lunar landing. The Space Exploration sale brought in a total of $2.86 million from 130 lots, including flown artifacts and Aldrin's personal watches.
Apollo 11's broken switch and mission-saving pen sell for $867K at auction
A dried out marker and a snapped off piece of plastic sold for $857,600 at a Sotheby's auction. What otherwise might be worthless bits of trash commanded the highest bids of the sale due to where the ...
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A tiger, a sable and a German Shepherd lifted off on Roscosmos' Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft on Tuesday (July 14), on a mission to signal to their crew that they had reached orbit...
Ex-SpaceX flight doc, two cosmonauts launch on Soyuz MS-29 to ISS
The first former SpaceX employee to fly into space as a NASA astronaut, Anil Menon, lifted off on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, flying with two cosmonauts, Pytor Dubrov and Anna Kikina, the latter the f...
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The U.S. Postal Service on Saturday (July 11) issued a new set of ten stamps celebrating Barbie's many careers, including being an astronaut...
Astronaut Barbie lands at post offices with new US stamp release
With Barbie you can be anything, even an astronaut ... on a postage stamp. The U.S. Postal Service "honored the possibilities and hope" conveyed by Mattel's line of fashion dolls by issuing ten Barbie...
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He spent almost 10 days in orbit after launching on the Soviet Soyuz TM-5 mission. Onboard Mir, Aleksandrov conducted more than 50 science experiments...
Interkosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Aleksandrov, second Bulgarian in space, dies at 74
Aleksandr Aleksandrov, the second Bulgarian to fly into space and the first to live on a space station, has died at the age of 74. Aleksandrov flew on Soyuz TM-5, a visiting mission during the Mir spa...
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LEGO has revealed that its next space-themed Icons set will focus on the Hubble Space Telescope. Scheduled for release on Aug. 1, the $139.99 kit creates a detailed desktop model of the spacecraft in celebration of its 35 years of observations.
LEGO reveals Hubble Space Telescope Icons set coming August 1
The Hubble Space Telescope has been revealing the building blocks of the cosmos for more than 35 years. Now, it is its turn to be made up of toy bricks. The LEGO Icons Hubble Space Telescope is a 1,25...
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The only member of the "Mercury 13" to fly into space, Wally Funk died on Wednesday (July 8) at the age of 87.
Wally Funk, last of the 'Mercury 13' and oldest woman in space, dies at 87
Wally Funk, who in 2021 became the oldest woman to fly into space -- 60 years after she and 12 other women sought the same opportunity as NASA's original astronauts -- has died at the age of 87. Funk ...
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For two decades, aft skirt no. 13 flew at the base of a solid rocket booster on 11 missions, flying with all five of NASA's winged orbiters. Now, as it nears its debut as a one-of-a-kind museum exhibit, collectors have the chance to own a small part of the skirt...
New collectible cut from booster that launched all five space shuttles
A new, limited edition collectible is both a flown artifact from a historic NASA space program and a souvenir of a one-of-a-kind museum exhibit. MotorArt PlaneTags is set to begin sales of its Space S...
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Canada's first astronaut to fly to the moon is leaving the country's space agency...
Artemis II astronaut Jeremy Hansen leaving Canadian Space Agency
The first non-American to fly to the moon has announced he is retiring from the Canadian Space Agency. Jeremy Hansen, who flew as as mission specialist aboard NASA's Artemis II mission, will leave his...
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When an Artemis mission lands with the next astronauts to explore the surface of the moon, they will mark their success in part by deploying the United States' flag revealed on America's 250th birthday...
NASA astronauts will plant US Capitol-flown American flag on next moon landing
NASA now has the next United States flag to be deployed on the surface of the moon. A member of the last mission to land on the moon, joined by the most recent astronauts to fly there, accepted the ba...
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The (possible) answer involves a number of United States' icons, from a Revolutionary War flag to the Statue of Liberty, the Golden Spike and the Star-Spangled Banner...
America 250: What is the oldest piece of Americana to have been flown into space?
Did you know that the space shuttle once launched the Statue of Liberty into space? In fact, there were two "Lady Liberties" on Discovery. With the U.S. celebrating its 250th birthday, what is the old...
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Ironically, the artifact that gave it its start is absent a half-century later...
50 years on, will the Mars lander arm that opened the Air and Space raise its hand?
Michael Collins looked down at his watch. The Apollo 11 astronaut had already beaten the original schedule for this opening by three days, but no one would remember that if these final 36 minutes on T...
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The four astronauts who flew on the Artemis II mission to the moon in April have been put forward for the Congressional Gold Medal. NOTE: AI rendering of medal for illustration purposes only. It is not the actual Artemis II Congressional Gold Medal design.
Artemis II astronauts proposed for Congressional Gold Medal for moon trip
The first astronauts to fly by the moon in more than 50 years could receive an honor previously only bestowed to the first crew to land there, if a former space shuttle commander's Artemis II Congress...
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Astronaut Danny Olivas was among the invited guests for the reveal of space shuttle Endeavour's vertical display on Wednesday (Jun 24). Having twice launched on an orbiter, Olivas is no stranger to the sight of a towering stack. So how does the experience at the California Science Center compare?
Astronaut Danny Olivas reacts to, ranks space shuttle Endeavour's new display
Danny Olivas did not launch on Endeavour, but as a space shuttle astronaut he was thrilled to be among the first people to see the orbiter on vertical display. Olivas joined members of the media for a...
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The California Science Center is now counting down to the Nov. 13, 2026 opening of its new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, featuring the launch pad-like display of the space shuttle Endeavour.
First look: November launch set for space shuttle Endeavour's towering display
There are some sights that photographs cannot do justice. A new one debuts on Nov. 13, as the California Science Center in Los Angeles at long last reveals the space shuttle Endeavour inside the new S...
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In 1988, Abdul Ahad Momand became the first citizen of Afghanistan to fly into space. On Sunday (June 21), he died in Germany at the age of 67 after a struggle with cancer.
Interkosmos cosmonaut Abdul Ahad Momand, first Afghan in space, dies at 67
Abdul Ahad Momand, the first citizen of Afghanistan to fly into space, has died at the age of 67. Momand's death was due to cancer, according to his family. In 1988, he flew on a nine-day Interkosmos ...
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It is not tan, nor is it one of Michelle's dresses (as former President Barack Obama joked at the grand opening "will be the top attraction") but now on display in the Obama Presidential Center is the blue NASA astronaut jacket that he was gifted by the final space shuttle crew in 2011.
Obama Presidential Center opens with NASA astronaut jacket on display
Among the artifacts now on display in the newly-opened Barack Obama Presidential Center is a jacket that was only worn for a few minutes. The blue coat is of the type that astronauts wear but this one...
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Samokutyaev was the commander of his Soyuz crews and a flight engineer on the ISS Expedition 27/28 and 41/42 crews. He conducted two spacewalks and was on the ISS for the last shuttle mission.
Cosmonaut Aleksandr Samokutyaev, 56, is first former ISS crew member to die
Aleksandr Samokutyaev, a cosmonaut who served twice as a crew member aboard the International Space Station (ISS), including during the final U.S. space shuttle mission in 2011, has died. He was 56. S...
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Three support towers that stood as unintentional monuments to unrealized space history have been toppled at Vandenberg Space Force Base...
Towers for California space shuttle launches demolished for SpaceX Falcon rockets
One of the United States' most-storied space launch sites has been cleared of its towers, making way for modern rockets to use the pad. Space Launch Complex-6 (SLC-6) is arguably more famous for what ...
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SpaceX on Friday (June 12) is now valued at over $2 trillion after the largest IPO (initial public opening) in history. To mark the momentous day, the company is offering several new collectibles through its online shop, including a SPCX mission patch and a Raptor engine bell (that really rings!).
Gone public, have a mission patch: SpaceX celebrates IPO with new collectibles
How does a spaceflight company celebrate going public? With a mission patch and a (rocket engine) bell, of course. SpaceX (SPCX on Nasdaq) debuted the collectibles on the same day that its IPO (initia...
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NASA on Tuesday (June 9) revealed the four astronauts who will fly on the Artemis III mission, currently targeted for next year...
NASA names Artemis III crew to test moon landers in Earth orbit
NASA's first astronauts to fly to the moon in more than 50 years handed off the baton to the next four people to launch on an Orion. The Artemis III crew is commander Randy Bresnik, pilot Luca Parmita...
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The Artemis II astronauts did not exceed the speed record set by the Apollo 10 crew in 1969, but they did inspire a new version of a related, venerable patch...
Artemis II crew flew fast, earned new patch: Astronauts' Mach 39 emblem
NASA's Artemis II crew are the fastest people alive, and now they have the patch to prove it. The Mach 39 patch is an update to the 40-year-old original Mach 25 patch, the design of which inspired the...
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The public is invited to visit NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC to tour through a newly-installed selection of space artifacts, models, murals and moon rocks...
Moon rocks and Mars rover: NASA adds exhibits, invites public to HQ
NASA is inviting the public to its main office in the nation's capital. The space agency has completed redesigning the entrance to its Mary W. Jackson Headquarters Building in Washington, D.C. to incl...
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For the past 11 years, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution or MAVEN spacecraft provided new insight into why Mars' atmosphere had gone missing. Now, six months after it fell silent, the probe has been declared lost by NASA...
NASA declares MAVEN lost after missing Mars atmosphere mission falls silent
NASA's MAVEN mission has ended as it began: with a mystery. The twelfth spacecraft to enter orbit around the red planet, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, probe has studied what be...
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A new set of five wristwatches embeds the motion of time into scenes from space history...
Watch space history tick forward with Xeric Asterisk Space Mission timepieces
Astronaut Ed White is half past the hour. Earth is at noon when high in the sky. Or, if you prefer, Mars moves every revolution of the moon outside of the cupola. The time displays are all a part of X...
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