Carol Armstrong found the bag in her closet. It contained valuable parts that scientists believed he left behind on the Moon in the Apollo 11 mission. The purse was found by Mrs. Armstrong months after her husband, Neil Armstrong died from complications following heart surgery. Allan Needell is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s curator for the Space History Department. According to Allan Needell Mrs. Armstrong believed the bag may have been from the spacecraft. Soon, the Museum will display the missing parts. The museum was contacted by her to inquire about the contents of the bag. She also sent them a photo showing the bag spread on her floor. (Photo below). McDivitt’s Purse was left and stored in the Lunar module. It is believed that the bag with its contents stayed on the Lunar surface. (Credit to National Air and Space Museum Smithsonian Institution). Mr. Needell stated that he was excited about the possibility of receiving mementos from the Lunar Module Eagle’s historic Apollo 11 missions. To determine the contents of the items, he called Ken Glover, Eric Jones and Ken Glover (both experts in the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal). It was identified immediately by the team, who used to refer to it as a McDivitt Purse. The bag was used to store special items in the Lunar Module’s Lunar Module at launch. Experts also recognized the contents of this bag, which included mirrors, netting, an 80mm Hasselblad camera and tethers. They were identified as belonging to the Apollo 11 Lunar module Eagle. The tether and a clip made of metal are believed to have been used by Mr. Armstrong to rest his legs before he left the Moon’s surface. For 45 many years, the bag was hidden in Armstrong’s closet. It was not known to anyone, even Armstrong’s biographer. McDivitt Purse or Temporary Stowage bag. The McDivitt Purse or Temporary Stowage Bag. Credit: National Air and Space Museum. According to his statement, “You know that that – that’s just a lot of trash that want to be taken back – LM pieces, odds and ends, it won’t remain closed by itself; it will have to stay shut. We’ll need to figure out how to open it again.” These things are more than historical fiction or films. They were done by real people, with a lot of planning and engineering.
