Some people take stuff home from work, and some people bring back souvenirs of a memorable trip. Those two activities intersect in Neil Armstrong’s closet. Going through her late husband’s things, Carol Armstrong came across a bag of what appeared to be old spare parts. She contacted Allan Needell of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, who recognized the objects as artifacts brought back from the Apollo 11 moon landing.
After some research it became apparent that the purse and its contents were lunar surface equipment carried in the Lunar Module Eagle during the epic journey of Apollo 11.
These artifacts are among the very few Apollo 11 flown items brought back from Tranquility Base and, thus, are of priceless historical value. Of utmost importance is the 16mm movie camera with its 10mm lens. The camera was mounted behind the right forward window of the lunar module and was used to film the final phase of the descent to the lunar surface, the landing, as well as Neil Armstrong's and Buzz Aldrin's activities on the lunar surface including taking the first samples of lunar soil and planting the US flag. Thanks to the Neil Armstrong family, the Apollo 11 purse and its contents are now on loan at the National Air and Space Museum for preservation, research and eventual public display.
Get an overview of the discovery at Sploid and an in-depth explanation of each object at NASA. -via Metafilter
(Image credit: Lisa Young of the National Air and Space Museum Conservation Unit)