Gannett is auctioning off “the first newspaper in space” NFT. The newspaper publisher says its “inaugural non-fungible token” is inspired by the first newspaper delivered in space. That historic event occurred in 1971. Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard transported a copy of TODAY to the moon. The newspaper is now called Florida Today.
Florida Today tells the story of how Shepard decided to take a copy, on film, of the newspaper. The paper’s community service director, Buddy Baker, arranged the historic newspaper delivery. Furthermore, the plot was devised over “cocktails and jazz” at the Carnival Club in Cocoa Beach, FL.
Gannett times the NFT sale with the 50th anniversary of Shepard’s moon mission.
The First Newspaper Delivered to the Moon collection includes the following:
- Photo Mosaic Video: A video exploration of a collection of images spanning five decades of space coverage that re-creates the cover of the keepsake section delivered to the moon during Apollo 14’s mission.
- Interactive Photo Mosaic Illustration: This digital asset is an interactive artistic rendering celebrating America’s historic journey into space.
- Physical & Digital Copies of “A Space Age History: Man’s Odyssey to the Moon”: The 24-page section, originally published in 1969, was re-formatted and re-published in 1971 to commemorate its journey to the Moon. The stories and photographs capture the spirit of the era, chronicle our journey into space and reflect America’s elation over the triumphant manned moon landing. .
- Exclusive behind-the-scenes Space Coast Tour: An exclusive tour of Cape Canaveral with FLORIDA TODAY’s space reporter Emre Kelly who has covered more than 125 launches and missions.
- Lifetime Digital Subscriptions: Unlimited access to all premium content from USA TODAY and FLORIDA TODAY on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices. Access to the eNewspaper, a digital replica of the print edition, is also included.
- Out Of This World Extras: Swag bag with one space shuttle Endeavour, one space shuttle Atlantis and one space shuttle Discovery beach towel, a set of Apollo playing cards and a space umbrella.
The 48-hour auction will begin on Monday, June 28 at 8 p.m. ET at nft.usatoday.com, powered by Origin’s NFT Launchpad. Gannett will also be offsetting the NFT footprint with carbon credits. For more details and the controlling terms and conditions applicable to the auction, visit nft.usatoday.com.
Gannett explains that an “NFT is essentially a piece of data that verifies you maintain ownership of a digital item, from a piece of artwork to a clip of a game-winning shot in an NBA game.”
