"We took it as the real Columbia," said Michael Neufeld with the Space History Division of the museum. "It's always the case that there may be backup equipment in place of the flown equivalent, but overall its overwhelmingly authentic."
As it turns out, at least one of the handles, which one Neufeld does not know, is indeed a replacement. The original is now labeled Lot 1128 in Butterfields upcoming "Natural History" auction.
How the handrail became separated from its rightful place in the worlds most popular museum begins with the revelation that the small metal rod is radioactive.
To help the astronauts locate the handgrips in the darkness of space, especially within the moons shadow, NASA installed two very small disks filled with an even smaller amount of the isotope Promethium 147 and phosphor in the handles mounting brackets. When the two chemicals mixed, the disks would glow. A similar method was used inside the spacecraft to assist finding the light switches.
Following policy, NASA removed the radioactive material, including the handrail, during Columbias post-flight inspection. Normally, the offending hardware would have been discarded, but given an interest in whether there might be a radiation leak in the vacuum of space, NASA decided to have the handle tested.
As the Butterfields auction catalog describes, NASA partnered with the not-for-profit International Vet Medical Foundation (IVMF) to "study the effectiveness of the sealant barriers confining the radioisotopes." IVMF was to measure leakage over a 10-year period and report their findings.
Citing the length of the study, NASA reportedly assigned ownership of the handle to IVMF with the condition that if the seals did not hold, the hardware would be disposed of safely.
The IVMF filed its final report with NASA more than 20 years later: "Since the [Promethium 147] isotope in the disks has decayed through 10 half-lives of radioactivity, the IVMF believes it safe for exhibition in accord with NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) regulations."
Now the IVMF is seeking to sell the handle through Butterfields.
"When I first heard [of the handle], my first reaction was Oh, yeah, how can they prove it's from Apollo 11?'" said David Herskowitz, Butterfields Natural History Department specialist, in a telephone interview with SPACE.com. "But they sent me all the documentation and, in my opinion, it is the only legitimate Apollo artifact that has been offered to the public."
The paperwork Herskowitz refers to is a Memorandum of Understanding between NASA and IVMF, dated in June 1973. The document, which will be included with the sale, transfers title to the handle from NASA to the nonprofit organization and is signed by three agency representatives.
"Remember this was 30 years ago, so a lot of people that were [at NASA] then are not there now," Herskowitz explained. "So they arent aware of everything they have done in the past."
Indeed, NASA was unaware of the transfer and the upcoming auction until an article appeared in the San Francisco Examiner questioning the legality of both.
And now the space agency is investigating.
"The investigation is still open," said Samuel A. Maxey, assistant inspector general for investigations at NASA Headquarters.
"We spoke to two different people in two different divisions at NASA," said Herskowitz. "We forwarded our documentation to both."
Regardless the status of the investigation, Butterfields is proceeding with the sale on Sunday, August 27. The handle, which Butterfields estimates is worth $20,000 to $30,000, is being offered among a collection of meteorites and a recovered Russian fuel cell.
Herskowitz said he would be "shocked" if NASA demanded the return of the handle.
"Very few things are ironclad, but we have the transfer of title. If NASA were to say we want it back it would be a legal nightmare."
"It is [NASAs] intent to resolve this," said Maxey.
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