A rare microfilm Bible which went to the moon was sold in the US for $US75,000 last week.
The tiny Bible, which measures only 3.8 centimetres by 3.8 centimetres, flew around the moon on the Apollo 13 mission before landing on its surface with the Apollo 14 mission in 1971.
The Bible, which contains both Old and New Testaments in the King James Version, is only one of 12 astronaut flight-certified Bibles with an unbroken chain of provenance and rests in a hand-made gold reliquary.
It was described by Michael Riley, senior historian at Heritage Auction, as an “incredibly rare space artifact”.
Some 512 microfilm Bibles were created by a group of NASA employees led by John Stout. Known as the Apollo Prayer League, the group had the mission of landing the first Bibles on the moon.
Of the 512, only 100 were carried to the moon’s surface and later distributed to various dignitaries.
