Rather than try to get conventional life insurance, the three astronauts spent their spare moments during their month of pre-launch quarantine signing autographed envelopes, according to NPR's Chana Joffe-Walt. That way, if they died on their lunar adventure, their families could sell the autographs, which today command up to $30,000 at auction.
To make the autographs more valuable, each was on an envelope that a friend would have postmarked on key days, like the launch date and the date they landed on the moon. Writes Joffe-Walt:
It was life insurance in the form of autographs.
"If they did not return from the moon, their families could sell them — to not just fund their day-to-day lives, but also fund their kids' college education and other life needs," (space historian Robert) Pearlman said.
The life insurance autographs were not needed. Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon and came home safely. They signed probably tens of thousands more autographs for free.
