NASA Shovel used by Astronaut Charlie Duke on the 1972 Apollo 16 Mission to pick up the Big Muley Moon rock sells at auction for almost a Million

The NASA shovel that was used by astronaut Charlie Duke to collect moon rook samples on the lunar surface sold at auction for $875,000 in Boston on October 19.  The Moon rock scoop was part of the Apollo 16 mission in 1972 that saw the astronauts return to earth with 211 pounds of lunar samples.   Apollo 16 took place three years after Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon.  The astronauts spent 72 hours on the moon’s surface before returning to earth on April 27, 1972.  Duke is one of the 12 people to have walked on the moon. The final mission was in December 1972, Apollo 17.   Duke kept the shovel in his possession 51 years before handing it over to RR auction in Boston to be sold.