TITUSVILLE, Fla. — Heads up for space collectors as an auction at the American Space Museum in Titusville is blasting off soon with some out-of-this-world items up for grabs.

Some of those items will be courtesy of Chuck Jeffery — known as the “NASA Nut” — who specializes in finding and unveiling space artifacts with the goal of auctioning them off.

Jeffery said his infatuation with space artifacts began after he returned from serving in the military and saw space shuttle Columbia launch from the Kennedy Space Center in 1982 .

“I got goose bumps up and down my arms," he said. "I compare it to fishing: You go fishing, you catch a fish, he's hooked. I was hooked — I was hooked on the space program and I've been hooked ever since.”

That moment, which he shared with his mother, eventually led him to building his own space collection.

His extensive knowledge of NASA eventually caught the eye of the struggling American Space Museum in 2014.

When Jeffery was able to recall one of the displays as being the test suit worn by astronaut Bob Crippen in the 70s, museum workers took note.

“They said, ‘Well maybe this guy knows what he's talking about,’" he said with a laugh. "Eight years later I'm still here."

But at that time, the museum was losing money and when fundraisers, among other ideas, were not working, many on the board of directors thought it best to shut down.

But when Jeffery joined the museum's board, he fought back and started the memorabilia auctions.  

“In our very first auction we brought in $68,000 for the museum," he said. "It was a turning point, and it's only gotten better since then."

In his continued efforts to help the museum, Jeffery still works with the auctions — which have included some rare memorabilia over the years.

For example, the latest online auction was filled with items from the many decades of the NASA program.

Two of which were a silver Snoopy pin that had been in space, which was awarded to less than 1% of the NASA workforce, and a picture of Buzz Aldrin on the moon signed by the man himself.

All auction proceeds go to help the museum continue its mission of preserving and teaching American space history, and that is something Jeffery says he is most proud of.

“This is my legacy to the Space Coast, is that this museum is here to serve the general public and the space loving community,” he said.

The American Space Museum online auction will take place on Oct. 7.