This story is brought to you by The Space Store, the online store of Astronomy magazine and a Firecrown Media brand.
For aerospace enthusiasts and collectors, being able to hold a tangible piece of the cosmos is a great way to connect with the significant moments of space exploration. Check out The Space Store’s Cosmic Collectibles section for verified artifacts, geologic samples, and limited edition tributes to space exploration.
Meteorites
This 12 piece collection represents all of the major meteorite types and impactites: iron, stone, and hybrids. Special examples include agoudal, moldavite, and brahin, each carefully classified and identified with their impact sites and mineral makeup.
Meteorites are visitors from outer space, mostly originating in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Iron meteorites were, millions of years ago, part of the core of a large asteroid, while stone meteorites were likely part of that same asteroid’s crust.
All of the specimens of this collection have been authenticated by Aerolite Meteorites, Inc. and come mounted in securely sealed clear cases, complete with history and information about their impact sites.
Scale models
If you’re more captivated by the machinery and ingenuity of space exploration, model spacecraft might be your perfect collectible. The Space Store offers an array of detailed models that faithfully replicate historically-significant vessels.
Executive Series Display Models by DARON are meticulously handcrafted in small, limited batches by master model builders who are unequivocally the finest artisans at their craft.
Developed in a collaborative partnership with aircraft manufacturers, airlines from around the world, the military, and the space program, each Executive Series Display Model is designed and exquisitely crafted with an incomparable passion for excellence.
Check out some of our favorites, such as the Apollo Command Module and NASA’s Orion, as well as a whole range of rockets and other spacecraft, both historical and modern.
Flown-in-space materials
Even rarer and perhaps more monumental than meteorites are artifacts from real space missions. This collection of materials have all been verified to have been flown in spacecraft, either aboard the vessels or as components of the vessels themselves.
Heat shield fragments from Apollo 8, for instance, are available in extremely limited quantities. Famously, on Christmas Eve of 1968, astronauts James Lovell, Frank Borman, and Bill Anders read from the Bible while orbiting the Moon on one of the most famous space missions in history.
This presentation bears a part of the flown heat shield of Apollo 8 and comes with a numbered certificate of authenticity plus a fact sheet about Apollo 8.
The source of this heat shield is a larger block formerly encased in lucite and given to NASA workers and VIPs as a recognition of their work in the Apollo program.
Similarly, this acrylic display contains a flown piece of duct tape installed in the orbiter Columbia, flown on STS-5 and removed after the flight.
With its certificate of authenticity, you can own a small but significant part of space exploration history.
Start your journey into the world of cosmic collectibles today by exploring the offerings at The Space Store. The adventure of space is closer than you think. These artifacts and many more available at The Space Store’s Cosmic Collectibles section are perfect gifts for any collector this holiday season, so don’t wait until these limited items are gone.
