Printout of Neil Armstrong's Heartbeat During First Moon Step Being Auctioned

It may or may not be enough to cause the hearts of space buffs to jump a few beats, but a New Hampshire auction house is offering a monitored readout of Neil Armstrong's heartbeat taken the moment he first stepped onto the surface of the moon,

Amherst-based RR Auction will take bids on a section of the electrocardiogram results, which showed Armstrong had a normal heartbeat during his historic first lunar encounter.

The printout and other artifacts from the Apollo 11 moon mission will be autctioned off during an an online bidding process from May 16 through May 23.

The auction house's description of the unique graphic, posted at the company website, states "EKG strip, six inches long, taken as Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong took man's first step on the moon. This is an actual strip of the EKG from Armstrong's heart monitor at the moment he stepped onto the lunar surface. Strip is affixed to a 7.5 x 9.5 presentation sheet which reads, 'EKG Recordings Taken as Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong Took Man's First Step on the Moon' and '4:13:24:28 Ground Elapsed Time.'"

The EKG sheet, matted and framed with mission patches from Apollo 7, Apollo 8, Apollo 9, Apollo 10, Apollo 11, Apollo 12, Apollo 13 and two Snoopy patches, to an overall size of 20.75 x 24.75 inches, is signed and inscribed in pencil, "To Paul Jones, The heartbeats that made this accomplishment possible as recorded at MCC on my console. Keep up your heart work. Charles A. Berry M.D."

The readout also bears an autopen-generated Neil Armstrong signature.

The auction house reports that after the moon landing, the EKG report was saved by the space program's manager of medical administration and afterward was cut up into five pieces, with four presented to the attending physicians on the medical team.

Other artifacts included in the auction include the joystick controller operated by astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins in the Apollo 11 command module.

Over 85 lots of Apollo 11 material will be featured in the auction, auction officials say.

Armstrong took his "giant step for mankind" on July 20, 1969. Buzz Aldrin later joined him on the moon's surface.

Armstrong, an Ohio native, died in August at age 82.