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: The family of a late NASA engineer has consigned his space memorabilia collection to auction and in doing so, has revealed his propensity for designing mission patches. Featured in the Goldberg Coins & Collectibes sale on Feb. 27 is the Clark McClelland estate and his 200 lots of space memorabilia. His emblem art is accompanied by the astronauts' replies, including a note by Apollo 11 moonwalker Neil Armstrong.
: After four years sitting on a bookshelf on display, a moon rock has been removed from the Oval Office as part of the redecoration of the White House by the Trump administration. First requested by former President Joe Biden in 2021, the Apollo 17 sample was intended to represent the ongoing efforts by NASA to explore the moon and beyond. The moon rock will be given back to NASA, according to a space agency spokesperson.
: The U.S. Space & Rocket Center played host to a different type of launch on Tuesday (Feb. 4), as Disney's Marvel Studios used the site to broadcast the countdown to its first trailer for "The Fantastic Four: First Steps," opening in theaters on July 25. Fans online saw sweeping views of the center's space artifacts, while the movie's cast gathered under a Saturn V moon rocket to press the trailer's "launch button."
: In the recent book "The Barber, the Astronaut, and the Golf Ball," the authors introduce Carlos Villagomez, who befriended moonwalker Alan Shepard while cutting his hair and was gifted a signed golf ball. Shepard never said if the ball had been in his pocket while on the lunar surface, though Villagomez thinks it was. If indeed it flew, it could reveal a secret: Namely, what was the brand of golf ball that Shepard hit for "miles and miles"?
: The winners of the second annual International Space Art and Poetry Contest recently saw their works shown on board the International Space Station, ahead of the pen, paint and poetry pieces being returned to Earth and presented to the students and educators. The contest, which was established by private astronaut John Shoffner, run by his Perseid Foundation and sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory, had entries from 35 countries.