Art News

Apollo 13 Commander James Lovell’s checklist that got astronauts safely home leads Heritage sale

DALLAS, TX.- They are some of the most famous words in the history of the NASA Space Program: “Houston, we have a problem.” Now, the Lunar Module Systems Activation Checklist upon which Commander James Lovell made his handwritten calculations to guide his wounded spacecraft and crew home – scant two hours after uttering those famous words – has been consigned by Commander Lovell himself and is expected to bring $25,000+ when it comes across the block as part of Heritage Auctions’ Nov. 30 Space Signature(r) Auction. “There are few Space artifacts as evocative or important as this little booklet,” said Michael Riley, Senior Historian at Heritage Auctions. “Without these successful calculations and the fast transfer of the information from one computer