You Should Own a Piece of Space Memorabilia

Everyone wants to own a piece of history, but the problem is history has already been made... Or has it? The new Space Age is upon us and there are plenty of amazing space memorabilia pieces available for you to own. Many of these pieces come from the missions and the great men and women who have traveled among the stars.

A great way to start out a collection, or to add pieces at a fairly low-cost, is with NASA patches. The most inexpensive of these patches are replicas. These patches were created to look like the actual patches worn by astronauts on various missions. You can find these patches online, in gift shops and almost anywhere else space memorabilia is sold. The next step up would be patches created for support personnel and other crew and NASA employees. These patches can vary greatly in price and value depending on the mission and the crew. If you want an all-star team of patches for your collection, you will want to look for beta cloth patches. These are the actual patches worn by astronauts, sewn into equipment or carried with them into space. The value of these patches can go quite high, but in most cases, this is as close as any of us will ever make it to space. 

As with any collectible, autographed items are always in demand. Astronauts have signed a wide array of items, including photos, patches and even packets of food. While things such as photos, replica patches and other non-flown items can demand higher prices, the real treasure lies in the items that have actually flown to space and back. For example, a packet of toasted bread cubes from the Apollo 11 mission, signed by Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins sold for almost $25,000. 

While there are a lot of space items and memorabilia put there for collectors of any level, there are some things to watch out for. There are items that are off-limits, such as wreckage from shuttle disasters like the Challenger or pieces of the moon. These items are considered memorials and even national treasures, making them illegal to own, sell or buy.

Space collectibles are a great way to own a piece of history and share it with your family. With so much space memorabilia to choose from, it's easy to start your own historical space collection today.