Buzz Aldrin’s Spare Apollo Meal

On July 20, 1969, humanity landed on on the moon for the first time.

So I took a closer look at the Apollo meal package that I have here in my office. Apollo 11 was an eight day mission, and after its great success, Buzz Aldrin gifted this unopened food packet (Meal A for Day 9, were it to to be needed) from his personal collection to his sister Fay Ann. She passed in 2012, and her son Tom sold it to me.

This was how individual full meals for each astronaut were packed for the flight. On the reverse side is a sealed plastic pouch containing a folded terry-cloth towel. A small square of blue Velcro is found on the front and back, and it holds the hygiene towel in the rear (photo below). Blue velcro was for Buzz, red for Neil Armstrong.

I plan to leave this meal unopened, or perhaps bring it back to the moon one day. 🙂