A rare bag of moon dust could sell for up to £3million when it goes up for auction in July. Sotheby’s is holding an auction on July 20 to coincide with the 48th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the moon. The Lunar Sample Return Bag, brought back by Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11, is being auctioned off along with a signed photograph of Buzz Aldrin on the moon and other memorbillia. Sotheby’s said on its website, “The star lot of the sale is the most important space exploration artefact to ever come to market, the outer decontamination bag used by Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11 to bring back the very first samples ever collected of the moon… traces of which remain in the bag. “The only such relic available for private ownership, it is exceptionally rare.” NASA will not be the beneficiaries of the sale. Armstrong initially handed the moon dust over to scientists in a laboratory and the space agency forgot about it. Decades later the government mistakenly auctioned off the bag and other space memorbillia. Nancy Lee Carlson, an attorney, bought the moon dust and other items for just $995. She sent it off to get tested by NASA, who quickly realised their error. They initially refused to give the bag back to Carlson but after a lengthy legal battle, a US district court ordered NASA to return the bag in February. The attorney plans to donate a portion of the sale proceeds to charity and to establish a scholarship at Northern Michigan University. William Jeffs, a NASA spokesman, told the Wall Street Journal the bag should be on public display. He said, “It represents the culmination of a massive national effort involving a generation of Americans, including the astronauts who risked their lives in an effort to accomplish the most significant act humankind has ever achieved.”