Astronaut Buzz Aldrin’s effects up for auction

? A handwritten card containing a Bible verse that Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin used during a lunar Holy Communion service is up for sale today at a space-related auction.

Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, read the verse privately during the 1969 mission while using a communion kit furnished by his Presbyterian church. Heritage Auction Galleries calls the moment the “First Religious Sacrament Performed on Another Heavenly Body.”

Aldrin had wanted to broadcast the verse back to Earth, but a lawsuit by an atheist halted his plans.

The weathered card, expected to bring in at least $50,000, is one of 43 moon-trip items consigned to the auction house by Aldrin, including his personal slide rule, a Texas state flag and a section of his Apollo 11 descent monitoring chart.