Wikimedia CommonsOn July 20, 1969, Buzz Aldrin made history as the second person to ever walk on the Moon.On July 20, 1969, there was a pivotal yet little-known moment during the Apollo 11 mission when Buzz Aldrin thought that he and Neil Armstrong could have been stuck on the moon forever.But, Aldrin quickly improvised and fixed the problem with a felt-tip pen. Now, after a bidding war between five collectors, the pen was just sold at a Sothebys auction in New York for a whopping $857,600.How Buzz Aldrins Quick Thinking And A Humble Pen Saved The Apollo 11 MissionIn the provenance letter for the pen, Aldrin, now 96 years old, recounts those harrowing moments when he thought that he and Neil Armstrong might not make it off the surface of the Moon.Wikimedia CommonsNeil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin (left to right) were almost unable to return home due to a circuit breaker problem on the lunar module which Aldrin fixed with a pen.After Aldrin and Armstrong finished their historic walk on the Moon, they went back to the lunar module Eagle to try to get some sleep. Thats when Aldrin noticed a small black button on the floor.The little button was a circuit breaker switch for the engine arm, which, according to Aldrin, was the worst switch to break. Without it, they would not be able to lift off from the lunar surface. Fellow astronaut Michael Collins, meanwhile, was still circling the Moon in the command module Columbia.Although the team made Mission Control aware of the issue, Aldrin said they just needed good old human ingenuity to fix the problem.Aldrin said he could have stuck his finger in the circuit, but he was worried about the risk of electrocution.SothebysThe pen that Buzz Aldrin used to fix the lunar modules circuit breaker just sold at auction for more than $850,000.I had a plastic marker pen in one of my suit pockets and it fit the breaker opening, so I pushed the marker pen into the circuit breaker, it clicked on and we rearmed the engine arm circuit, Aldrin wrote. Now we could leave the lunar surface, rendezvous with Mike in the command module and head for home. Disaster averted.Its still unclear how the circuit breaker switch broke in the first place. Likely, Aldrin or Armstrong hit the panel by accident.Aldrin wrote that he and Armstrong, who died in 2012, both thought the other astronaut broke the switch. Still, Aldrin said, what mattered most was that we had to figure out how to solve the problem of the broken switch so we could leave the lunar surface and get home to Earth.The Auction Of Buzz Aldrins Historic Apollo 11 PenAfter the team returned home from the Moon, NASA gave Aldrin the circuit breaker and the pen to keep in his personal collection. Both items have since been exhibited at the Seattle Air & Space Museum and the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.Buzz Aldrins quick thinking saved the Apollo 11 mission and influenced future engineering of NASA spacecrafts.Aldrins brush with disaster also left a mark on future NASA missions. From then on, engineers ensured that circuit breakers on lunar modules had a guard to prevent them from breaking easily.Aldrin previously tried to auction off the pen and circuit breaker in 2022, but the bidding on the items did not reach the minimum price to sell them. However, the white inflight coverall jacket that Aldrin wore during the mission did sell in 2022 for $2.8 million.This time around, the dented silver plastic pen and circuit breaker sold for more than $850,000. The recent sale also included other personal items of Aldrins, including the New Jersey state flag he took to the Moon, papers and a cadet portrait from his time at West Point, and about two dozen wristwatches that span decades of his life. The sale also included the Buzz Lightyear figurine gifted to Aldrin by the director of Toy Story.After reading about Buzz Aldrins mission-saving pen that sold for more than $850,000, discover the story of Judith Love Cohen, the woman who helped save Apollo 13. Then, see some of the most astonishing photos in NASA history.The post The Pen That Buzz Aldrin Used To Save The Apollo 11 Mission Just Sold At Auction For $850,000 appeared first on All That's Interesting.