On October 4, the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1, the International Space University (ISU) will be conducting a 10-day auction on eBay of unusual and interesting Space-related and Sputnik/Apollo era items.

Turn your office or home into a museum, dine with an astronaut, party with a movie director, attend a rocket launch, own priceless books and memorabilia, send a payload to orbit, all of these are at your finger tips through an eBay auction.

Included in this auction will be a full-size, museum-quality Sputnik 1 replica, the opportunity to fly a 1-kilogram payload in space, to lunch or tour the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum with a former NASA astronaut, acquire space art, to purchase beautiful coffee-table books and other items autographed by Buzz Aldrin, and more! Proceeds from the auction will be used to create a scholarship fund in the U.S. to support deserving students seeking to attend ISU.

For the auction, visit “ISU auction” under Stores on eBay.com, or link to it from the ISU website at: www.isunet.edu

Additionally, the timing of this auction was chosen to commemorate and pay respect to the 150th anniversary of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky who was a true visionary and pioneer of astronautics, theorizing many aspects of human space travel and rocket propulsion decades before others, and played an important role in the development of the Soviet and Russian space programs.

About the International Space University

ISU develops the future leaders of the world space community by providing interdisciplinary educational programs to students and space professionals in an international, intercultural environment. ISU also serves as a neutral international forum for the exchange of knowledge and ideas on challenging issues related to space and space applications.

This year, the University celebrates the 20th anniversary of its founding. ISU is registered in the U.S. as a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization and has graduated more than 2500 students from 96 countries. ISU grants two Masters degrees: a Masters in Space Studies, and a Masters in Space Management. It also conducts short programs lasting from one day to two weeks, and annual interdisciplinary 9-week Space Studies Programs (SSP) at universities and research institutions around the world that are selected to serve as SSP hosts. For 2008, this program (SSP08) will be held in Naples, Italy, June 30 – August 29, 2008. The 2009 Space Studies Program will be held at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California.

ISU Auction Items:

  • Actual Size, Museum Quality Russian Sputnik Replica
  • Aircraft Flight on ZeroG + Persian Carpet
  • 1 Kilogram (2.2 lbs) Launched into Orbit
  • Apollo Saturn V Second Stage Cryogenic Valve
  • View Rocket Launch, Hotel Stay, and VIP Tour
  • Ariane 5 Rocket Hardware Flown to Space
  • Original Painting by Space Artist Ron Miller
  • Bottle of 1970 Bordeaux “Apollo Era”
  • Director’s Showing of film “Postcards from the Future”
  • Lunch or Tour with Former NASA AstronautSchool Visit and Talk by Former NASA Astronaut
  • Director’s Special Showing of Orphans of Apollo
  • A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin (1998)
  • Reaching for the Moon by Buzz Aldrin (Autographed,2005)
  • Vintage Children’s Science Fiction Books
  • The Moon, Collectors Edition – signed by author
  • Closeup: New Worlds (inscribed by editor)
  • A Way Home by Theodore Sturegeon (inscribed by author)
  • The Violent Man by A.E. Van Vogt (inscribed by author)
  • “From the Earth to the Moon” DVD Package (Autographed)
  • Full Moon Book Autographed by Buzz Aldrin (4 separate books to be auctioned)