Neil Armstrong's Moon Landing White Bag Contents Explored

This month the estate of Neil Armstrong has revealed a white bag of items used by the Astronaut aboard Apollo 11 on his mission to the Moon. These items were collected by Armstrong at the end of his mission and have remained relatively dormant for decades – sitting amongst his personal belongings in his home. This year the Neil Armstrong Estate begins their loan of these items to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC, where they'll be explored, researched, and eventually displayed for all to see.

Today you're going to get the best view of these items you'll have until they are eventually put out for show in DC. That may be some time from now – so drink it in!

According to the Smithsonian, Neil Armstrong's widow Carol found these items in a closet some time after his death. They were all inside one (beta)cloth bag. She sent a photo of the items to the curator of the Apollo collection at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Allan Needell.

Needell recognized this bag – it was "the purse," as astronauts call it – and suggested that the items could be from the Apollo 11 mission.

Upon closer inspection, it was confirmed: these items were indeed brought with the crew in the Lunar Module Eagle during the Apollo 11 mission.

"These artifacts are among the very few Apollo 11 flown items brought back from Tranquility Base and, thus, are of priceless historical value," suggests NASA. This singular collection page is part of a larger – surprisingly old-fashioned – webpage made by NASA called "Apollo Lunar Surface Journal."

Despite its Web 1.0 appearance, it contains a massive amount of extremely detailed information about the mission.

Details on this Lunar Surface Flown Apollo 11 Artifacts collection were assembled by Eric Jones, Ulli Lotzmann, Ken Glover, and Allan Needell.

Photos were taken by Lisa Young of the National Air and Space Museum Conservation Unit (except where noted). The first image in this collection is the photo taken by Carol Armstrong and sent to Allan Needell.

The map of numbers corresponds to the following list:

1. Temporary Stowage Bag (also known as the 'Purse')

2. Power Cable for DAC (item 12)

3. Utility Light with Power Cable

4. Utility Light

5. Utility Bracket Assembly (aka Utility Clamp)

6. Utility Bracket Assembly (aka Utility Clamp)

7. Crewman Optical Alignment Sight (COAS)

8. Filter (Snap-on for COAS)

9. Light Bulb Assembly (Spare for COAS)

10. Waist Tether (aka EVA Tether)

11. Helmet Tie Down Strap (2)

12. Data Acquisition Camera (DAC -16mm movie)

12a. Right-Angle Bracket Adapter (for DAC)

12b. 10-mm lens (for DAC)

13. Lens Shade (Teflon; for 10mm lens on DAC)

14. Eyeguard Assembly (for AOT)

15. Mirror (Metal)

16. Tool B – Emergency Wrench

17. Waste Management Cover

18. Netting

Above you're seeing a photo taken on the way to the Moon showing Buzz Aldrin holding the TSB.

Next you'll see the DAC, aka the Data Acquisition Camera for 16-mm movie. This is the camera that filmed the video you see of the Moon landing.

Apollo 11 photo AS11-36-5389 shows the camera mounted to a crash bar aboard the craft.

For additional details – again – head to the NASA conservation collection as linked above.

Once you've done that, head to your local Smithsonian and give the front desk clerk a big hug for continuing to do great work in conserving our history for us.