"The space program ... is an investment in the future, in technology, jobs, international respect and geo-political leadership, and perhaps most importantly in the inspiration and education of our youth." —Gene Cernan — Apollo 17 Commander

An interesting proposal was recently made to a select type of person. Actually, it was made to everyone, but I suspect those responding are pretty select. The proposition is for a few people to travel to Mars to establish a colony. There is a catch. The trip would be one-way — no coming back.

If that sounds daunting, understand that 78,000 people have signed up so far. The Dutch organization promoting the trip (with funding coming from — I'm not making this up —a new reality show) expects 500,000 applicants in the end.

But, wait. This isn't new. In a much different manner, it was proposed almost 50 years ago. That trip was a little less ambitious traveling only to the moon.

It was 1965. Kennedy had laid out his plan for putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade. The Russians were listening and stepped up their space program. NASA didn't want to be second and created a plan to send one astronaut to the moon with enough supplies and oxygen for 30 days. A series of subsequent launches could send additional supplies. At some point, a "rescue mission" could be created to possibly bring that person back. Or not.

Wise public relations scrapped the plan. It would be bad if the Russians beat us to the moon but far worse if a purposefully stranded U.S. astronaut died there. All that became moot just four years later when, in 1969, Apollo 11 and its crew successfully went to the moon and back.

After Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins opened the door, multiple missions followed. The last was Apollo 17 in 1972. Commander Gene Cernan piloted the Lunar Module to the surface. In addition to being one of only 12 men to ever walk on the moon, Cernan was one of even fewer to drive on the lunar surface. He tooled around on the Lunar Rover without a care in the world/moon.

Unbeknownst to virtually everyone, Cernan had brought with him something else — a $20 U.S. gold St. Gauden's Double Eagle coin. For three days, the coin's home was on that Lunar Rover.

It's believed a man named Frank Jameson gave the coin to Cernan. After Cernan returned, he inscribed a photo to Jameson taken on the moon and sent him a letter mentioning "your (our!)" coin had been on the rover.

Back in 1970, the value of the gold coin was only $50 or so. Today, the gold content would be worth upwards of $1,700. But, this unique coin traveled to and lived on the moon for a while.

That coin, the Cernan letter, signed photo and patches from the Apollo 17 mission are now slated for auction. All are matted and framed together as a presentation piece. It's being offered in Secaucus, N.J., by Regency-Superior Auctions. Estimates for the framed piece are $25,000 to $50,000, but only the actual auction will tell the value. After all, it's the only gold coin to have traveled to the moon and back. Moreover, the last man to stand on that cosmic surface carried it there. The lore of that alone is sure to make some people get astronomically irresponsible with their wallets.

Cernan's words about the space program being an investment are certainly true. It's equally true how much the investment value of this coin and framed piece will prove to be.

For armchair stargazers and others interested in the coin and auction outcome, more information can be found online at: www.RegencySuperior.com. By the way, the coin shows a bald eagle soaring above the sun. That would put it between the earth and moon. How appropriate.

Editor's Note: A JPEG visual of the $20 gold coin and entire framed Apollo 17 piece being offered at auction has been sent with this column.

To find out more about Peter Rexford and features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.