( CNN ) Any traveler who returns with mementos from their adventures might struggle deciding what exactly to do with them . Perhaps that 's why astronaut Neil Armstrong , the first man to step foot on the moon , left some of his personal artifacts from his journey to the moon in a closet . Armstrong 's widow , Carol , found the items , and she snapped a picture of them that she shared with curators at the Smithsonian 's National Air and Space Museum , a release from the museum said . Armstrong , who uttered those now famous words , `` One small step for man , one giant leap for mankind , '' died in 2012 after complications associated with heart surgery . In the wake of his death , Carol Armstrong donated many of the Apollo 11 artifacts to the museum 's National Collection . She also shared some of her husband 's correspondence and paper files to his alma mater , Purdue University in Indiana . Not until recently did Carol Armstrong email the museum with the news she 'd found , `` a white cloth bag filled with assorted small items that looked like they may have come from a spacecraft . '' With the email , she included a picture of the items , spread out on her carpet . Most of the artifacts Carol Armstrong had made available to the museum prior to her closet find , were n't any actual flown artifacts , but were still exciting , Allan Needell the Apollo curator at the National Air and Space Museum told CNN . Carol Armstrong 's locating the bag and turning to the museum `` to help determine the significance of the items it was an immense honor and challenge , '' Needell said . The physical challenge of conserving and protecting the items , which Carol Armstrong shipped to the National Air and Space Museum , along with the intellectual challenge of determining what they were led Needell to enlist a team of experts from the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal ( ALSJ ) . For a year , the team worked to document and understand the `` function and significance of each of the items in the bag , '' confirming recently that a few definitely came from Neil Armstrong 's Apollo 11 mission . The first they were able to verify was the white cloth bag in which the items were found . The temporary stowage bag was often called the `` McDivitt purse , '' named after Apollo 9 Commander James McDivitt , who suggested astronauts might need a place to temporarily stow items . Evidence that the bag and its contents were a part of the moonwalk mission were confirmed through Armstrong 's own words . He 's recorded as having said , `` You know that that one 's just a bunch of trash that we want to take back -- LM parts , odds and ends , and it wo n't stay closed by itself . We 'll have to figure something out for it . '' But transcripts from the ALSJ provide evidence Armstrong alerted mission control to the bag of `` odds and ends '' on board before their return . This was imperative as the return trajectory calculations would have needed to accommodate the additional weight ( about 10lbs ) in order to allow the team 's safe re-entry to Earth , explained the curator in a blog post on the museum 's website . Inside the bag was the camera that recorded Armstrong 's landing on the moon , as well as his famous remarks upon his landing . The 16mm data acquisition camera was mounted in the window of the lunar module Eagle and recorded historic images : Armstrong just before he stepped onto the moon . Armstrong planting the American flag with Buzz Aldrin . Also a part of the haul was a waist tether used by Armstrong to help support his feet during a rest period on the moon . Astronauts used these tethers as security in case they were forced to do a spacewalk during orbit , the museum release said . These items are now on display as a part of the Air and Space museum 's temporary exhibition , `` Outside the Spacecraft : 50 Years of Extra-Vehicular Activity . '' Needell said the Armstrong artifacts `` tell a number of stories '' - the technical story that has been so carefully documented and the human story of those who were involved . `` It was a most satisfying discovery process , '' he said . A team of experts is still cataloging some of the items found inside to determine whether any others were a part of the Apollo 11 mission . SEE : YOUR stunning photos of the night sky .
Artifacts from the Smithsonian Air and Space museum 11 are found in Carol closet . Carol 's widow , Armstrong , notified Apollo of her find . Among the items : The camera that recorded Armstrong 's moonwalk .