Aldrin's notes sell for nearly $180,000

DALLAS - Buzz Aldrin's handwritten card with a Bible verse that the Apollo 11 astronaut planned to broadcast from the moon fetched nearly $180,000 at an auction of space memorabilia.

The index card-sized note, which Aldrin never read publicly because of legal challenges NASA faced from famed atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair, was part of nearly $1.2 million in items sold this week by Heritage Auction Galleries.

Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, never broadcast the New Testament verse. But he read other notes on the card in which he asked for a moment of silence and for listeners to "contemplate for a moment the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his own individual way."

The card sold for $179,250 in the auction that ended Thursday. It was from the personal collection of Aldrin, 77.

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