Original NASA moon-landing videos sell for $1.82 mn
New York: On July 20, 1969 the world stood still as it witnessed something that until that moment many believed unattainable: the arrival of man on the moon. Original recordings capturing the stunning moment were on Saturday – exactly 50 years later – sold at auction in New York for $1.82 million.
Emotions were on full display, eyes fixed to television screens and breaths held when the figure of mission commander Neil Armstrong descended from the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle little by little until he set foot on the moon, followed shortly after by Buzz Aldrin.
Sotheby’s on Saturday paid tribute to the historic moment with an auction in which three original NASA videotape recordings of man’s first walk on the moon recorded that day sold for $1.82 million, reported Efe news.
The figure is more than 8,000 times the $217.77 that a NASA intern paid for them in 1976 at a government surplus auction, Sotheby’s said.
Gary George, an engineering student who at the time was interning at NASA, bought 1,150 reels of magnetic tape, among them 65 boxes of videotapes he thought he could sell to a local television station for re-recording.
George sold and donated some of the tapes but kept others after his father noticed labels on boxes identifying them as “APOLLO 11 EVA | July 20, 1969 REEL 1 [-3]” and “VR2000 525 Hi Band 15 ips.” (IANS)
Prized Thai buffaloes show off speed in muddy race
Chon Buri (Thailand): Sloshing across a muddy field with men sprinting behind them, prized water buffaloes blow past cheering spectators in eastern Thailand on Sunday in a rare display of bovine speed.
Tractors have largely replaced the big beasts in daily work but farmers in Chonburi have preserved the more than 100-year-old racing custom to mark annual rice plantings. “Before, we used buffaloes to plough rice fields. When our work was done, we held the buffalo race as relaxation,” said owner Thanin Sae-tiew, 52. “It has since become our tradition.”
Pairs of horned buffaloes thunder to the finish line while a racer grasping a red plough tries to hold on until the end or face disqualification — and excited laughter from the crowd. It’s less about winning the 3,000 baht (USD 100) prize than pride in victory, though the best buffaloes can fetch higher prices when sold. And they are treated to fancier food than most livestock. (AFP)