Need a little space something for that special somebody?

This weekend, Superior Galleries in Beverly Hills, California is holding its 13th auction, with nearly 3,000 lots on the block.

Compared to Sotheby's and Christie's East, which sold $1.9 million worth of space history during a September auction, Superior is small potatoes. That auction included a flown NASA emblem and name tag coated in lunar dust for $310,500.

But Superior has been auctioning space memorabilia for six years, and what it lacks in big-ticket items, it more than makes up for with plenty of offerings that are often quirky and rare, if not downright arcane.

Frank Borman's underwear, anyone?

Other items of note include a microfilm Bible that was carried on the lunar surface by Apollo 14 astronaut Ed Mitchell. Just 2.25 inches square, the first (and so far only) Bible to make to the moon contains all 1,245 pages of the King James Version. It is expected to fetch between $9,000 and $12,000.

A prototype moon boot -- found in a California thrift shop by a U.S. Marine -- is estimated at $5,000 to $7,5000.

But not everything in the 460-page catalog is that pricey.

Flown stamped covers from the Soviet Soyuz program, including autographs and onboard cancels, are expected to sell for as little as $150.

"Most people have no concept that this even exists, that they can even own it," said I. Michael Orenstein, the senior buyer and appraiser at the gallery.

Allan Needell, chairman of the Space History Division of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., said the market in space collectibles is heating up.

"The prices these things are fetching have increased considerably," Needell said.

Traditionally, the Smithsonian has the right of first refusal for things that could be considered space "artifacts." But since the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum has no acquisitions budget, most items sold at auction generally remain in private hands, Needell noted.

Orenstein said the items are culled from former NASA and NASA-contract employees, the astronauts themselves and NASA-declared surplus. The odd find also shows up at garage and estate sales, he said.

"You can look at it as the glass is half-full or half-empty: The employees walked off with a lot of this stuff as collectibles, but if they hadn't saved it, it would not have been preserved," Orenstein said.

The two-day sale is expected to draw between 100 and 150 buyers.

Florian Noller makes it to the twice-yearly auctions from his home in Stuttgart, Germany.

"In Germany, it's hard to get those items that sell here," Noller said. The 22-year-old, who has collected space memorabilia since he was 10, doesn't just buy for himself either. He represents collectors in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. If all goes well, he said, he expects to spend as much as $80,000 for 100 to 150 lots.

Among them is a laptop computer that flew on STS-55 and STS-64. The computer, expected to sell for between $2,500 and $3,500, is of particular interest to one of his buyers, Noller said, because it was used by a crew that included Hans Schlegel, the second German citizen to travel aboard the shuttle.

"It probably will go higher than I am allowed to bid," Noller said.