Echoes-From-Apollo

Apollo 17 'Lunar Surface Checklist' Page 1-9 Used On The Moon's Surface

 

Here's Page 1-9 from the Apollo 17 'Lunar Surface Checklist' which was used by Cernan and Schmitt inside LM Challenger as it sat on the moon's surface! Before, and after, their EVA's!  Now it's in my home! Well, my safe deposit box anyway! God bless America! Whenever I look up and see the moon, I'm awestruck knowing that those men took this to the moon's surface in LM Challenger, brought it back to earth, and now, by the grace of God (and quite a few Benjamin Franklin's!!!), I'm it's caretaker. And, as a BIG bonus, it appears to have a light sprinkling of lunar dust! 
   

APOLLO 17
'LUNAR SURFACE CHECKLIST'
PAGE 1-9

  

As can be seen, the notations 'C17037' and 'L24117' were written next to 'Report PRD readings to Hou'. Each astronaut possessed a PRD (Personal Radiation Dosimeter) to monitor the cumulative radiation dose received during the mission. There is also the notation 'Note LM Shadows Length (-100')'. I was able to verify these notations were written on the Page while Cernan and Schmitt were on the moon in LM Challenger by searching through the 'Apollo 17 Technical Air-To-Ground Voice Transcription', and the 'Apollo 17 Lunar Module Onboard Voice Transcription', the covers of which are seen below. I think it's interesting that these transcripts document the exact notations made by Schmitt while he and Cernan  were on the moon!

 

Apollo 17 Technical Air-To-Ground Voice Transcription

 

 

Apollo 17 Lunar Module Onboard Voice Transcription

 

As can be seen in the below transcript page from the 'Apollo 17 Technical Air-To-Ground Voice Transcription', identified as Tape 75A/7, at 04 14 30 14 the CDR-LM (Cernan) tells Schmitt 'We're about what- about 100 meters from Trident?' The LMP-LM (Schmitt) tells Cernan ''Yes- yes, less than that, I think Trident's right here. Our shadow's about 100 feet, Geno, I think.' CDR-LM (Cernan) then tells Schmitt 'Yes, we're only about- yes, less than 100 meters then.'

 

 

As can be seen in the below transcript page from the 'Apollo 17 Technical Air-To-Ground Voice Transcription', identified as 'Tape 76A/1',  at 04 15 58 37 the LMP-LM (Schmitt) tells Houston 'Okay, Houston, we're just starting our eat period. Sorry to be a little behind. PRD readings are 17037 and LMP is 24117', which would indicate that Schmitt made the PRD reading notations on this checklist page. Then at 04 16 01 11 CDR-LM (Cernan) tells Houston 'I don't know if it will mean anything to you, but the shadow of the LM, the rendezvous radar antenna is pointing about one-third of the way down from the peak of Family. And that, I know, is pretty gross. And, Gordo, I - I must be right here abeam of Trident 1. The only reason I hesitate is that I'm so close - but it's probably, well I guess it's close to 100 meters - 80 meters anyway to where the - where the rim of Trident 1 falls off.' 

 

 

As can be seen in the below transcript page from the 'Apollo 17 Lunar Module Onboard Voice Transcription', identified as '2-18 Day 5', at 04 14 30 14 the CDR (Cernan)  says 'We're about what-about 100 meters from Trident?' The LMP (Schmitt) then tells CDR (Cernan) 'Yes-Yes, about that.'. CDR (Cernan) then says 'I think Trident's right here.'. To which the LMP (Schmitt) tells the CDR (Cernan) 'Our shadows about 100 feet, Geno, I think.'. CDR (Cernan) then says 'Yes, we're only about-yes, less than 100 meters then. *** look that long, but it's supposed to be.'. 

 

 

At Spacefest IV, I showed the below photo of Page 1-9 (not the actual Page!) to Cernan, and asked him about the handwritten notations. He verified that notations 'C17037' and 'L24117' were written on the Page by Schmitt while on the moon inside LM Challenger. Which he notated on the photo as  'Written on the Moon by Jack Schmitt'. Cernan said that the other notation, 'BU EV GLOVES (ISA) BEHIND ENG COVER SPARE LCGS (LHMS) TO ISA BIG PKT', was probably written on the Page by Schmitt on the way to the moon. He wasn't too clear about who wrote 'Note LM Shadow Length (-100')' or when it was written. However, based upon the transcripts, it is clear that this had to have been written by one of them while inside LM Challenger, shortly after landing on the surface.

 

Here's a picture of Cernan at Spacefest IV
at the time he signed/notated the above picture. Which can be
seen laying on the table in front of him. Along with
two copies of his book, which he signed/notated for my 
wife's grandkids.

 

 

 

Below is a picture of my 'Apollo 17 Flight Plan Change A' dated November 29, 1972, belonging to Apollo 17 Flight Controller John H. Cooper, which complement's Page 1-9. Cooper actually used this 'Flight Plan' during the Apollo 17 mission while sitting in the Mission Operations Control Room, Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston Texas, in support of his responsibilities as an Apollo 17 Flight Controller. I was able to obtain it from one of his relatives. At a hefty price! 

 

Although Cooper made some very interesting notations on a number of the pages, there was one page in particular I want to share here.  Below is a picture of Page 3-124. Which has many of Cooper's  handwritten notations.

 

 

One of which is: '100m from Triton (Shadow 100 ft.)'. Which is almost identical to the following notation made on Page 1-9: 'Note LM Shadow Length (-100')'.

In addition, it can be seen in the above transcript page from the 'Apollo 17 Technical Air-To-Ground Voice Transcription', identified as Tape 75A/7, at 04 14 30 14 that the CDR-LM (Cernan) tells Schmitt 'We're about what- about 100 meters from Trident?' The LMP-LM (Schmitt) tells Cernan ''Yes- yes, less than that, I think Trident's right here. Our shadow's about 100 feet, Geno, I think.' 

On this same transcript page, Cernan and Schmitt also talk about being '100 meters from Trident' and 'boulder tracks' which Cooper has also notated on Page 3-124 as '100m from Triton (Shadow 100 ft.)' and, 'can see boulder tracks'!

Note that Cooper refers to 'Trident' as 'Triton'. 

So, think about it.
Just after Cernan and Schmitt landed on the moon, they began looking out  the Lunar Module's windows. And making notations on Page 1-9. One of which describes the shadow length of the Lunar Module.  While back in the Mission Operations Control Room at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Cooper was sitting at his console. Listening intently. And contemporaneously notating the same information on Page 3-124!

Two amazing Apollo 17 artifacts!
Two very expensive and amazing Apollo 17 artifacts! 
Finally together! 

In the below picture, Cernan is holding the complete 'Lunar Surface Checklist', from which  Page 1-9 originated. You can see black markings across the top of the Checklist's pages.  Which I have circled, with an arrow pointing to the black markings.

 

   

In the below picture, Cernan, Evans, and Schmitt are preparing for the Apollo 17 mission.  It appears that the 'Lunar Surface Checklist' is open on the table in front of them. Which I have circled, with arrows pointing to the black markings!

 

It doesn't get any better than this! 

Flown 'Apollo IX LM-3 Final Flight Crew G&N Dictionary' Dated February 24, 1969

 

Here's my 'flown', complete, vintage 'Apollo IX LM-3 Final Flight Crew G&N Dictionary', Part Number 'SKB32100016-301', Serial Number '1001', dated 'February 24, 1969'. This was Apollo 9 Commander Jim McDivitt's personal copy! 

In March of sixty-nine, he 'used' this item while hurtling through space inside Apollo 9's Lunar Module (LM), nickname 'Spider', as he and Lunar Module Pilot Rusty Schweickart put 'Spider'  through it's 'paces' in  'low earth orbit'! 

 It was the first time a 'Spider', or a LM for that matter, had ever 'flown' in space!
That's 'first ever' folks! 

Apollo 9 was the third Apollo mission and the first where the Command/Service Module (CSM) was 'paired' with a LM.
During it's ten day mission, the astronauts performed extensive testing of 'Spider's'
ascent/descent engines and navigation system/s!
To include performing critical docking/undocking maneuvers with the CSM!   

After undocking from the CSM, and achieving separation, Mission Control heard McDivitt say, 'Vámonos', as Schweickart 
 fired up 'Spider's' 'descent stage' engine and they 'Vámonosed' the hell outta there!
In the fully configured LM! Like a couple a bats outta hell! Leaving Scott behind in the CSM!

 

'Spider' Takes Flight!

Lunar Landing Configuration! 

After rigorously testing 'Spider's' systems, 
 they jettisoned the lower part of the LM, also known as the 'descent stage', engine and all!
Which was the stage that would eventually allow astronauts to land on the moon! 
Leaving them in the upper part of the LM, also known as the 'ascent stage'! 
Which is the part that would use the defunct 'descent stage' as a type of 'launching pad' and  
blast the astronauts off the surface of the moon,   
toward an eventual rendezvous with an orbiting CSM!
Now, ya need to understand, they were approximately a
hundred eleven miles away from Scott and the safety of the CSM!
And, since they'd just jettisoned the 'descent stage', and it's engine, 
 the 'ascent stage' engine was all they had left! Literally! 
Problem was.... well.... it'd never before been fired up in space! 
It was what you'd call, 'untested"! But the actual real life 'rocket scientists' who'd invented the damn thing, 
assured the astronauts that it'd work! Space or no space! At least in theory anyway! 
But.... in the unlikely event that it didn't.... well.... there was always Apollo 10, am I right?! 
So, keeping fingers crossed, McDivitt hit the switch or toggle or whatever
the hell you want to call it, and...  it did work! Just as advertised! Or should I say theorized! 

Mcdivitt and Schweickart breathed a sigh of relief and, using the 'LEM Optical Tracker System',

were able to rendezvous with the CSM, where they performed one last docking maneuver! 
One last critical docking maneuver! Which allowed them to climb back in the CSM! Safe and sound! 
And jettison what was left of the LM! Which I've been told, may still be orbiting the earth to this very day!
Not! It probably burned up in the atmosphere at some point! But wouldn't that be neat if it was?! 

 

'Spider' Returns!  
Sans the Descent Stage!

An argument could be made that this was the most critical docking maneuver of the mission! 
At least for them anyway! 

 And the rest, as they say, is history! 

All of these were firsts for 'merica's manned space program and essential steps towards fulfilling
President Kennedy's goal of   'landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth'
by the end of that decade!

It's always been my contention that, without a successful Apollo 9,
there's no way in hell Apollo 11 would've landed on the moon in July of nineteen sixty-nine! 

And ya kin take that ta the bank, Frank! 

  One more thing, 'Spider' was the first manned spacecraft not  equipped to reenter
the Earth's atmosphere!
Y'all chew on that fer a minute! Or two! 

AND....
THIS 'G&N DICTIONARY' WAS 'WITNESS' TO IT ALL!!!

'APOLLO IX LM-3 FINAL FLIGHT CREW G&N DICTIONARY'
FRONT COVERS

 

 

 

 

On 3/24/2012 my wife and I had a 'meet and greet' with  McDivitt down in 'The ol' Pueblo',  Tucson Arizona!  During this 'meeting', McDivitt was shown this 'Apollo 9 LM G&N Dictionary' and personally confirmed that this item 'flew' with him on Apollo 9! While looking through the 'Dictionary', McDivitt showed us page 'PGNS 1/Star List', and advised that as a tribute to Apollo 1 Astronauts Virgil I. 'Gus' Grissom, Roger Chaffee, and Ed White II, all of whom perished in a capsule fire on the launch pad in January 1967, the Apollo 9 crew named three stars listed on this page after them!  McDivitt pointed out that Star Number 3, listed as 'Navi' in the Dictionary, was actually Grissom's middle name spelled backwards! And to those of you scoring on the lower end of the 'Bell Curve', that would be 'Ivan'! . He advised that Star Number 17, listed as 'Regor' in the Dictionary, was actually 'Roger' spelled backwards! In honor of Roger Chaffee. And last but not least, he advised that Star Number 20, listed as 'Dnoces' in the Dictionary, was actually 'Second' spelled backward! In honor of Edward H. White II (the Second).

MYSELF AND MCDIVITT! 

I'm holding the 'DICTIONARY'! 
McDivitt's holding my other Apollo 9 'flown' item, 
a 'Docking and Post Docking Leading to LM Jettison' cue card/checklist! 
Which came from his personal collection!
 

 

PGNS-1
STAR LIST
 

  OTHER INTERESTING PAGES WITH
WHAT APPEAR TO BE HANDWRITTEN NOTATIONS

PGNS-33

 

PGNS-34

 
PGNS-41

PGNS-43

 

Ever since obtaining this item back in 2011, I'd been searching for either an original, or copy, of the Apollo 9 'Stowage List' documenting that this item was listed as part of  the Apollo 9 Mission. Initially I reached out to other collectors. In 2013 I received an e-mail response from a rather well known collector who had a vintage Apollo 9 'Stowage List', in which he advised that my item was indeed on the 'List'! Which I did appreciate!   However, for some reason, he was reluctant to send me a complete copy of the actual 'Stowage List' itself. So.... I continued my search.

In 2018 I came across the following entry in the 'National Archives' website: 'Composite Apollo Stowage Lists 1967-1975 National Archives Identifier: 656392 Local Identifier: NRF-255-214 Record Group 255 (Apollo 9) Contacts National Archives at Fort Worth (RM-FW)'. Soooo, for a small fee, I was able to obtain a complete copy of the 'Stowage List'  from them! Oh happy days! I love it when a plan comes together! 

 

NATIONAL ARCHIVES
APOLLO 9 'STOWAGE LIST'
COVER

NATIONAL ARCHIVES
APOLLO 9 'STOWAGE LIST'
PAGE 35
LAST ENTRY SHOWING THE 'LM G&N DICTIONARY'

 

  
APOLLO 9 LAUNCH

 

 
    APOLLO 9 SPLASHDOWN

 

Apollo 17 Flight Controller John H. Cooper's Used 'Apollo 17 Flight Plan Change A'

This is my 'Apollo 17 Flight Plan Change A' dated November 29, 1972, belonging to Apollo 17 Flight Controller John H. Copper. Cooper used this Flight Plan during the Apollo 17 mission while sitting in the Mission Operations Control Room, Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston Texas. I obtained this item from one of his relatives for quite a hefty price.   

 

 COVER
Cooper's name printed
in the upper right corner.

 

The below 'Letter of Provenance' provides details about
Cooper, the Flight Plan, it's origin, and his untimely demise,
which occurred shortly after the conclusion of the Apollo 17 mission.

 

Although Cooper made some very interesting notations on a number of the pages, there was one page in particular I want to share since it is connected to my Apollo 17 'Lunar Surface Checklist' Page 1-9, that was used by Apollo 17 Astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt  inside Lunar Module Challenger shortly after landing on the moon.

Below is Page 3-124 from the 'Flight Plan' with Cooper's numerous handwritten notations.
One of which is, '100m from Triton (Shadow 100 ft.)'.

 

Similarly, as Cernan and Schmitt were on the surface inside the Lunar Module, one of them made the following handwritten notation on Page 1-9:  'Note LM Shadow Length (-100')'. 

 

 

At Spacefest IV, I showed Cernan a photo of Page 1-9 and asked him about this notation. He wasn't too clear about who wrote, 'Note LM Shadow Length (-100')' or when it was written. Cernan did verify that this page was used by them shortly after landing on the surface and that Schmitt was making notations on it at that time.

As additional supporting documentation, the 'Apollo 17 Technical Air-To-Ground Voice Transcription', and the 'Apollo 17 Lunar Module Onboard Voice Transcription', both verify that this notation was made on Page 1-9 shortly after Cernan and Schmitt landed on the moon in LM Falcon!

As can be seen in the below transcript page from the 'Apollo 17 Technical Air-To-Ground Voice Transcription', identified as Tape 75A/7, at 04 14 30 14 the CDR-LM (Cernan) tells Schmitt, 'We're about what- about 100 meters from Trident?' The LMP-LM (Schmitt) responds, 'Yes- yes, less than that, I think Trident's right here. Our shadow's about 100 feet, Geno, I think.' CDR-LM (Cernan) then tells Schmitt, 'Yes, we're only about- yes, less than 100 meters then.'

 

 

On this transcript page, Cernan and Schmitt also talk about being '100 meters from Trident' and 'boulder tracks', which Cooper has also notated on Page 3-124.

Cooper refers to 'Trident' as 'Triton'. 

So, think about it.
Just after Cernan and Schmitt landed on the moon, they began looking out  the Lunar Module's windows. And making notations on Page 1-9. One of which describes the shadow length of the Lunar Module.  While back in the Mission Operations Control Room at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Cooper was sitting at his console. Listening intently. And contemporaneously notating the same information on Page 3-124!

Two amazing Apollo 17 artifacts!
Two very expensive and amazing Apollo 17 artifacts! 
Finally together! 

Apollo 15 Sieger/Crew Owned Mail Cover Flown to the Moon's Surface

 

Here is one of my most prized acquisitions, one of the 298 famous, or should I say infamous, Sieger/Apollo 15 crew owned mail covers that were flown to the moon's surface. This one is numbered '240' of '300'. And, no, that's not a typo! There were initially 300, but apparently, for whatever reason, only 298 actually ended up on the moon! Some folks make a big deal about the numbering, but, in my opinion, the numbering means nothing since all 298 covers were part of the same 'bundle' carried by Apollo 15 Astronauts Dave Scott and Jim Irwin to the moon's surface in LM Falcon. Subsequently returned to earth. Where they were then confiscated by the U.S. Government, until eventually being  returned to the crew of Apollo 15.... ELEVEN YEARS LATER! And then, only after Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot Al Worden sued the U.S. Government demanding they be returned to the crew! So, whether you have number 1, or number 298, they were all on the surface of the moon at the same time! The numbering has absolutely no real significance whatsoever. Neither do the differing stamp combinations found on some of these covers. 

 

FRONT

BACK

The number '158', as notated in the upper right corner, is the U.S. Government's seized document inventory identifier. Next to that are the initials 'SNH'. The number and the initials were both added after they were seized from the Apollo 15 crew by the U.S. Government. The following excerpt from 'Space Flown Artifacts: The Flown Apollo 15 Covers', authored by Howard C. Weinberger, provides some great information about the origin of the both the numbers and the initials seen on these covers:

'In the upper right corner of the reverse of the Sieger/Crew Owned [covers]... [are] the small handwritten initials of S. Neil Hosenball (SNH), NASA's General Counsel [at the time], and a serial number, which NASA assigned at the time of their confiscation. The Sieger/Crew Owned covers are numbered 1-298...'   

LOA

 

Below is a picture of Scott saluting the Flag on the surface of the moon. Scott admitted that the bundled covers were initially placed in the pocket of his spacesuit shortly before liftoff! Over the years, he has been somewhat evasive about what he did with them after that! So.... if the covers stayed in that pocket for the duration, then they were actually on the surface of the moon with Scott during his EVA's, as seen in this picture! However, if, as some have speculated,  Scott removed the covers from his spacesuit pocket prior to landing on the moon and simply stored them somewhere inside the LM, then that's where they remained during Scott's EVA'S!

 

LM OR POCKET? 
YOU DECIDE!

According to NASA release 72-189, issued Sept. 15, 1972: 'These 398 [covers] were properly packaged for flight and carried on board Apollo 15 by Scott in a pocket of his space suit'. Scott later reportedly said that he may have removed the bundled covers from his suit leg-pocket and placed them in another storage location aboard LM-10/Falcon once the crew left earth orbit. Scott also allegedly stated  that he seemed to recall the bundled covers not being inside his space suit pocket while he was on the moon. However with Scott, you never know whether you're getting the full story or, whether he's just clouding the issue because of his bitterness over the whole affair. Either way, in one form or another, this cover was 'on' the moon with Scott and his fellow moonwalker, Irwin. 

 

Two card inserts, hand notated '158A' and '158B', both initialed 'SNH' (S. Neil Hosenball), also came with this Sieger/Crew Owned cover. The following excerpt from Weinberger's 'Space Flown Artifacts: The Flown Apollo 15 Covers' provides some great information about these inserts: 

'Some of the Sieger/Crew Owned covers have a small (unflown) card inserted inside the cover, some signed by a crew member...' 

 

 FRONT

 

  

 

BACK

  

 

  Photo showing comparison of notations placed on this Sieger/Crew Owned cover and both inserts after being turned over to the the U.S. Government by the Apollo 15 Astronauts.  

 

 Below is one of the best narratives I have found describing the history surrounding these Sieger/Crew Owned covers.

PAGE 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apollo 16 Apollo 15 Astronaut Al Wordens' Vintage 'CSM Rescue Book (Change A)' Dated March 10, 1972

 

Here is Apollo 15 Astronaut Al Worden's vintage 'Apollo 16 CSM Rescue Book (Change A) for All Launch Dates' dated March 10, 1972.

This item measures 8.5" x 10.5", is approximately 25 double sided card stock pages, and is divided into sections separated by tabbed dividers. It was used by Worden while he was training as the Apollo 16 back-up Command Module Pilot (CMP) for that mission. Apollo 16 launched on April 16, 1972.
This is an exceedingly rare checklist. 

As shown below, it has been personally inscribed by Worden as follows: 'This Rescue Book was used by me as the back-up command module pilot. It has been in my personal collection. Al Worden Apollo 15 CMP.' Worden's name is on a sticker affixed to the cover as seen below. Worden also inscribed it on the approval page as seen below as follows: 'Al Worden Apollo 16 BUCMP'.

 In the below picture, Worden is holding this item. 

 

 

 

 

 

Worden should be smiling,
considering what I paid for this item!!!

 

 

 

LIST OF EFFECTIVE PAGES
BASIC 12/14/71
CHANGE A 3/10/72

 

 

The 'Apollo 16 CSM Rescue Book (Change A) for All Launch Dates' provided the crew with a quick reference to the actions needed to respond to a variety of emergencies.  Its' tabbed sections are divided into the following: 

1.  Abort Points/Rescue Cases 2. One Rev Rendezvous 3. Two Rev Rendezvous   4. Rescue Two Rendezvous 5. CSM Dwell Rendezvous 6. Manual Insertion Rendezvous 7. TPF Activities 8. SPS Pre-Braking Burn Procedures 9. IMU Failure Rendezvous 

 

 

 Like similar checklists in aircraft, the Apollo Checklists were intended as memory joggers, and were normally used by one crew member reading out the action, and the other crew members carrying out the requisite task.

Below are pages 1 through 4 from the book.

LM ABORT POINTS
 CSM RESCUE CASES

 

ONE REV
ORBITAL MOTION PLOT

 

 

ONE REV
RELATIVE MOTION PLOT

 

ONE REV
TIMELINE

 

I also have an Apollo 17 'CSM Rescue Book', dated 12/4/72 obtained from Farthest Reaches belonging to Apollo 17 Flight Director Neil Hutchinson which he kept on his console in the Missions Operation Control Room and used during that mission. There is a separate entry for that item on this blog. 

Paid a  pretty penny for these items but well worth the price!!

Flight Director Neil Hutchinson's Vintage Apollo 17 CSM Rescue Book

 

This is my vintage Apollo 17 'CSM Rescue Book' dated 12/4/72 belonging to Apollo 17 Flight Director Neil Hutchinson which he kept on his console in the Mission Operations Control Room and used during that mission. 

 

COVER

There are pencil notations on the cover probably made by Hutchinson with 'BASIC' crossed through and '11/10/72' penciled in, and 'verified 12/4/72' notated just underneath 'All Launch Dates'. Apollo 17 launched 12/7/72.

 

Dated December 6, 1972, this picture shows the Mission Operations Control Room (MOCR), Flight Director's console, the day before the Apollo 17 launch. From left, Apollo 17 Flight Director Neil Hutchinson, Eugene Kranz, Gerald Griffin. The MOCR was located in Building 30, Mission Control Center (MCC), Houston TX.

This Apollo 17 CSM Rescue Book was actually kept for use on the MCC console by Flight Director Hutchinson, designated 'Silver Flight', who inscribes the first page accordingly as can be seen in the below picture. Fortunately these rescue contingencies didn't need to be utilized as this mission went smoothly.

 

 

There are a number of interestingly notated pages in this item including the one shown one below with a diagram most likely drawn by Hutchinson himself!

 

And the below hand written page which appears to have been handwritten on a sheet of lined paper and was probably not part of the original item but added by Hutchinson as an aid to the overall purpose of the item at the time. Amazing stuff!!

 

I also have an Apollo 16 'CSM Rescue Book (Change A)', dated March 10, 1972, obtained from Apollo 15 Astronaut Al Worden through Farthest Reaches. There is a separate entry for that item on this blog. 

Paid a pretty penny for these items but well worth the price!!!

Three Russian 'Cosmonautics Day' Mail Covers Signed By A Total Of 38 Cosmonauts

 

Here are my three Russian 'Cosmonautics Day' Mail Covers, two postmarked 1971 and one postmarked 1977, signed by a total of 38 Cosmonauts.
 

I obtained the first cover on March 11, 2017 in an online auction for a very reasonable price. 

 

As can be seen in the above photo, it is postmarked 1971 and signed by the following 9 Cosmonauts: 

Pavel Popovich

Vostok 4, Soyuz 14-part of original Cosmonaut group selected in 1960-Commander of Vostok 4 in 1962 which, along with Andriyan Nikolayev on Vostok 3, became the first time that multiple manned spacecraft were in earth orbit at the same time.

Andriyan Nikolayev

Vostok 3, Soyuz 9-married to Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, 1963-1982-Commander of Vostok 3 in 1962 which, along with Pavel Popovich on Vostok 4, became the first time that multiple manned spacecraft were in earth orbit at the same time.. 

Vladimir Shatalov

Soyuz 4, 8, and 10.

Nikolay Rukavishnikov

Soyuz 10, 16, and 23.

Georgy Beregovoy

Soyuz 3.

Viktor Gorbatko

Soyuz 7, 24, and 37.

Alexei Leonov

Voskhod 2, Soyuz 19, ASTP-became first human to 'walk' in space during Voskhod 2.

Vitaly Sevastyanov

Soyuz 9 and 18.

Valentin Lebedev

Soyuz T-5, T-7, and 13.

 

BACK

On March 13, 2017, I received an email response from a Russian friend after a request for help identifying the signatures on this item. My friend provided me with the below photo of my item, on which he identified all 9 Cosmonaut signatures!  

 

 

I obtained the second cover on September 14, 2019 in an online auction for almost three times what I paid for the first one!

 

As can be seen in the above photo it is postmarked 1971 and is seen as I received it. You can plainly see that someone had used a pencil to print each Cosmonauts' name next to their corresponding signatures.

It is signed by the following 13 Cosmonauts: 

Anatoly Filipchenko

Soyuz 7 and 16.

Vasily Lazarev

Soyuz 12 and 18a (aborted launch).

Georgy Shonin

Souz 6-part of original Cosmonaut group selected in 1960.

Viktor Gorbatko

Soyuz 7, 24, and 37.

Vitaly Zholobov

Soyuz 21.

Gennady Sarafanov

Soyuz 15.

Vitaly Sevastyanov

Soyuz 9 and 18.

Georgy Grechko

Soyuz T-14, 17, and 26.

Yevgeny Khrunov

Soyuz 4 and 5.

Yuri Artyukhin

Soyuz 14.

Gherman Titov

Vostok 2-became second human to orbit the earth on August 6, 1961-first to orbit the earth multiple times (17).

Aleksei Gubarev

Soyuz 17 and 28.

Sergei Zhukov

No missions.

BACK
Pencil notation lower right indicates this item was in a 1998 Superior auction with a price of '195'.

This item also came with the below Xeroxed insert in which someone used a red marker to identify each signature.

I obtained the third cover on January 18, 2020 in an online auction for a reasonable price, as with the first above described cover.

 

As can be seen in the above photo, it is postmarked 1977 and signed by the following 16 Cosmonauts: 

Georgy Beregovoy

Soyuz 3.

Viktor Gorbatko

Soyuz 7, 24, and 37.

Alexei Leonov

Voskhod 2, Soyuz 19, ASTP-became first human to 'walk' in space during Voskhod 2.

Vitaly Sevastyanov

Soyuz 9 and 18.

Anatoly Filipchenko

Soyuz 7 and 16.

Yuri Artyukhin

Soyuz 14.

Aleksei Gubarev

Soyuz 17 and 28.

Sergei Zhukov

No missions.

Pyotr Klimuk

Soyuz 13, Soyuz 18, Soyuz 30.

Vladimir Lyakhov

Salyut 6, Soyuz 32, Soyuz 34, Soyuz TM-5, Soyuz TM-6, Mir EP-3, Soyuz T-9.

Valery Rozhdestvensky

Soyuz 22, Soyuz 33.

Valery Bykovsky

Salyut 6, Vostok 5, Soyuz 22, Soyuz 29, Soyuz 31.

Lev Demin (AKA Dyomin)

Soyuz 15.

Vladimir Kovalyonok

Salyut 6, Soyuz 25, Soyuz 29, Soyuz 31, Soyuz T-4. 

BACK
Pencil notation lower right shows what appears to be a price of '275' and a date of '93'.

 

On July 3, 2020, I received an unsolicited email from my Russian friend in which he provided me with the below photo of my item, on which he identified all 16 Cosmonaut signatures!  Being a Russian manned space program enthusiast, he knows his cosmonaut autographs. He did this on his own, which is greatly appreciated.

 

'Cosmonautics Day' was celebrated in the former USSR, and is still currently celebrated in Russia, to commemorate the first manned Earth orbit by Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961.

Apollo 7 Astronaut Walt Cunninghams' November 6, 1968 Bob Hope Show Used Scripts

 

Occasionally I'll see an item in an auction that is a little off beat and quite unique. That was the case with this item which I was able to buy at a very reasonable price during an auction of space memorabilia a few months ago. I entered a fairly low bid for the item and was pleasantly surprised when I won. I don't know why there was not more interest in the item when it came up for bid since it is a really cool piece of astronaut owned/used memorabilia. 

These two Scripts were described as being from the personal collection of Apollo 7 Astronaut Walt Cunningham and were used by him for his appearance on the Bob Hope Show/Special November 6, 1968 as part of the Apollo 7 Crews' appearance along with fellow Apollo 7 Astronauts Wally Schirra and Donn Eisele. Actress Barbara Eden also appeared on the show and was part of an Apollo 7 comedy bit as can be seen in the below picture. Cunningham's name is handwritten on the first page of each Script and may be his authentic signature. Each Script also has numerous pages with handwritten notations/edits which apparently were made by Cunningham at the time! Although the below Script 1, Page 1, is annotated as 'Bob Hope Special. Dec. '68', it was used for the November 6, 1968 show. This notation may have been made in error by Cunningham himself. Further down, Script 2, Page 1, is annotated with the correct date the show was aired as follows: 'Bob Hope Special #68/69-3 Air: November 6, 1968'.

 

 

 

SCRIPT 1
PAGE 1 

  

 

SCRIPT 1
 PAGE 6

 

SCRIPT 1
 PAGE 7 

 

 

SCRIPT 2
PAGE 1

 

 

SCRIPT 2
PAGE 8 

 

SCRIPT 2
PAGE 11
 

 Below is a photo of the Apollo 7 Crew with Hope and Eden during the show!

 

 

 I was able to obtain a copy of the full audio portion of the show from Archival Television Audio,
which mirrors the two Scripts exactly as they are notated/edited!!!

 

Since obtaining these Scripts in November 2015, I have been looking for a video of this show. You would not believe how hard it has been to find!  In August 2020, I got a lead that part of the show was included in the documentary 'Apollo: Missions To The Moon', which I bought a copy of. In this film, there is a 47 second clip (21:25 to 22:12) of the show which mirrors parts of pages 4 and 5 of Script 2.  I subsequently emailed Tom Jennings of 1895 Films, the producer of the documentary, and asked him where he obtained the clip. He emailed me back and put me in touch with one of his producers, Chris Morcom. So, I emailed Chris and he told me he obtained the clip from a company called RetroVideo. I went to their website and looked it over. My chances of obtaining a copy of the show did not look good however when I read this on the RetroVideos' inquiry page:  'PLEASE NOTE: RETRO VIDEO DOES NOT SUPPLY FOOTAGE TO COLLECTORS OR FANS. PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS FORM UNLESS YOU ARE WORKING WITH A LEGITIMATE PRODUCTION COMPANY ON A PROJECT INTENDED FOR BROADCAST OR COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION. THANK YOU.'  I took a chance and emailed them via their actual email anyway. After all I was on a mission to preserve a piece of manned space program history! 
,
Surprisingly, I received a reply rather quickly from a Bob DiCicco with RetroVideo.
He replied: 'Thank you for your email. Due to personal websites and Youtube we do not send shows or even
segments of anything here in our library to individuals. The material gets out and is impossible to police.
I'm sorry but we can't help you on this.' 

Very nice response email but he is obviously not a space artifact collector!
Sooo... I am again at a dead end in my search for the complete video of the show. 

 

Here are pages 4 and 5 from Script 2:

 

 
Here is a comparison of pages 4 and 5 from Script 2 as compared with the video clip from
the November 6, 1968 Bob Hope Show:

 

 

 

 As a side note, these Scripts came in a manila envelope with some interesting notations believed to have been made by Cunningham, as can be seen in the below photo.

 

 

All in all an interesting piece of manned space program history!

'Mercury 7 Launch' Print Signed By Six of Seven, And Betty Grissom

This is a Mercury 7 Launch Print numbered 505 of 1500 signed by Mercury 7 Astronauts Alan Shepard, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Wally Schirra, Gordon Cooper, and Deke Slayton. It is also signed by Betty Grissom, wife of Mercury 7 Astronaut Gus Grissom who perished in the Apollo 1 launch pad capsule fire in 1967.   

 

I obtained this item in May 2012 in an online auction. I have not seen too many of these come up for auction since I obtained this one. A very cool item. But the reason I am only just now putting this item on my blog, is because of something that happened very recently with regards to the COA for this item which I find to be very interesting and quite serendipitous. 

Approximately 5 years ago, in anticipation of selling my house, I packed most of my personal belongings and put them in storage. Among these items were a number of what I assumed to be empty shipping tubes, including the shipping tube used by the auction house to send this item to me in 2012. I made a habit of keeping these shipping tubes in case I ever needed to ship/transport any of my posters. I am sort of a hoarder that way so I had a number of these empty shipping tubes hanging around my house, which were also packed up and put in storage with the rest of my personal belongings. Now this storage locker was the size of a single car garage and was stacked front to back and top to bottom! Well, personal circumstances dictated that this stuff stayed in storage for the past five years, patiently waiting for me to come and get it.  

For the past two weeks I have spent everyday moving the contents of that storage locker to my new house. I cleared out the last of the items this past weekend, leaving only a huge table and a couple of what I believed to be empty shipping tubes in the storage locker. Didn't really give the shipping tubes still in the locker much thought as I had decided just to throw them out. I assumed they were empty. But something inside me told me to check the tubes before throwing them in the trash. And it was a good thing I did!

When I checked the inside of the tube used to ship this item to me in 2012, I noticed something was still inside, curled up. Sooo..... I pulled it out and hot damn if it wasn't the below COA for this item which I had not even noticed being in there back in 2012! It had just been sitting patiently inside that tube for the past 9 years waiting for me to bring it home. 

 

 

Just an interesting chain of events I needed to share.

The moral is never throw any shipping tubes out! 

Hughes Aircraft Company Vintage Manual 'LEM OPTICAL TRACKER SYSTEM MANUAL' Dated July 30, 1965

 

Here is a vintage Hughes Aircraft Company 'LEM OPTICAL TRACKER SYSTEM MANUAL' dated July 30, 1965. Approximately 400 pages! Obviously rough around the edges, with the name 'J. Albert' on the cover and title page as pictured below. Google shows nothing on this name but he was obviously involved in the development of the system as this manual shows quite a bit of wear and tear. It is typical of the types of items I love to collect: it was obviously used at the time and is personalized with the original owners' name. Anyone with information about a 'J. Albert' who was associated with Hughes Aircraft Company, or NASA, during that time please let me know.

FYI, I believe that this system was developed as an alternative to the rendezvous radar and was used to facilitate the CSM and LM locating one another in moon orbit prior to docking for the return trip home to earth.  

COVER

 

TITLE PAGE
 

 

FOREWORD

 

 

SUMMARY

 

 

SUMMARY cont.

 

 

TOC

 

 

TOC cont.

 

 

TOC cont.

 

 

PAGE A-35

 FIGURE A-1.13
PARAMETRIC RELATIONSHIPS
(HUH!) 

I think this page is interesting because it demonstrates just how brilliant the people behind the scenes were who designed, built, tested, delivered, and supported the systems which sent the astronauts to the moon and safely returned them to the earth.

 

 

PAGE A-40 

I included the below pages as examples of the types of
handwritten corrections/notations found throughout the manual.
Albert liked his red pen!

 

 

PAGE A-123

FIGURE A-1.44
SENSITIVITY TRADEOFF TABLE

Another example of handwritten corrections/notations in the manual.

 

PAGE A-224

FIGURE A-2.5
CROSSED SLIT PATTERN IN STAR TRACK MODE

And another example. 

 

PAGE A-205

FIGURE A-1.81
BEACON LOCATION ON SERVICE MODULE

 

 

PAGE A-211

FIGURE A-2.1
LEM OPTICAL SENSOR

 

 

This blog has a comments section where people can leave comments. I rarely check these comments because I have received so few of them. However, on, or about, October 28, 2020, I noticed I had six comments rather than the five I had previously been aware of. I said  'Hot damn, somebody left me a new comment!'. When I checked on the 'newest' comment, I saw that a Cline Frasier had left me a comment about this item.... WAY BACK ON FEBRUARY 21, 2015!!! Over five years prior!!! And here is the comment he left: 

'While at NASA/Houston, I was the creator of the idea that an optical tracker could replace both the rendezvous radar and the semi-fixed alignment optical telescope on the Lunar Module and then the project manager of the development. The primary motivation was to the save the ~90 pounds that the LM was overweight. The secondary motivation was that the rendezvous radar was not working and was way behind schedule. We had a competitive contract for a design definition phase. Hughes was one of the three we picked. The manual you have is from the 3 month definition phase. In Sept, 65, we picked Hughes to develop a flight system. There is more to the story. I would love to get a copy of the manual as I'm trying to remember exactly how the beacon scanning worked.

Cline Frasier. Feb 21, 2015'.

 

I thought 'Holy crap, that was five years ago. How did I not notice it before now!!'. But I took a chance and  emailed him on October 28, 2020 with the following:

'Hi Mr. Frasier. I have a blog you visited a couple of years ago and you commented on the above described item that you might like to have a copy of it. I rarely check the comments so I just now saw yours. Let me know if you would still like a copy. I have each page of the item scanned into my computer individually so I may be able to send you some of them if you are still interested. This item has the name ‘J. Albert’ on it. Did you know him? I am always looking to further the provenance on all my items.' 

 

By golly, I received an almost immediate response the same day from Mr. Frasier with the following:

'I would love to have a copy of the manual.
I don't know who 'J. Albert' is. The only Albert I can think of is Albert Hopkins. He was a computer designer at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory during that time.

I doubt that he is the person as he wasn't involved in the LEM Optical Tracker at all.
At the time, I was at NASA/Houston and the development was my concept as a system idea to save weight (basically, to reduce the LEM weight enough to fly).

I shepherded the project through Hughes designing it and demonstrating it would work (all in a year, when the "experts" said it would take at least 5 yrs).
If you are interested in more history, I'll try to help.
Cline Frasier

(formerly NASA Project Manager for the Apollo Primary Navigation, Guidance and Control System)'. 

 

Wow, another person who actively participated in manned  space program history and he has sent me some very interesting details about this item!!!   

 

Even before receiving my copy, Mr. Frasier sent me the following historical information pertaining to the development of the LEM OPTICAL TRACKER SYSTEM: 

'I'm looking forward to seeing the manual.

The back story is:

In late 1964 Grumman admitted the LEM was discovered to be about 100 pounds dry weight too heavy. This was after multiple weight reduction exercises and Grumman basically said they were not sure if they could find 100# to take out of the design.

At the time, the LEM had a rendezvous radar (100+ pounds) to track the Command Service Module in orbit and fixed alignment optics (~28 pounds) to align the inertial systems.

I realized that an optical tracking system could replace both radar and alignment optics at about the weight of the alignment optics -- save the needed 100 lb.

The "experts" said an optical tracking system couldn't be done and, if it could, it would take five years -- which we didn't have.

I got an approval to run a feasibility study because management was desperate and the optical tracking system was the only idea anyone had to get the weight down.

By early 1965, MIT/Instrumentation Laboratory and Grumman did the work and found that it was feasible -- with high schedule risk.

I finished the technical and schedule feasibility report in March 65.

At this time, the radar was having technical problems and running behind schedules.

By May 1965, NASA decided to launch a project to develop an optical rendezvous tracking system as an insurance policy. AC Electronics Division of GM was selected as the prime contractor for the project (AC was also the prime contractor for all the Primary Guidance & Control System hardware, etc.).

~May 5, 1965, the optical development was launched with AC, using my report as the specification and introduction to the interfaces, etc.

AC immediately launched a competitive selection for a 3 month preliminary design phase. Hughes, Perkin-Elmer and Itek were selected.

September 1965, Hughes was selected for the development.

January, 1966, Hughes had the system designed and run through pre-qualification testing. Naturally, some problems were found -- that were straightforward to fix.

January, 1966, NASA management decided to continue with both the radar and the optical systems and have competitive "fly off" testing to be finished by May 1966.

~May 5, 1966, the "fly off" results were reviewed in a large meeting with all parties represented. The conclusions were:

Both systems had demonstrated they would work and meet the needed schedules.

Grumman had found other ways to reduce the LEM dry weight enough.

The radar provided more operational flexibility.

The astronauts were much more comfortable with radar and the direct measurements of range and range rate.

To proceed with the radar as the primary rendezvous system.

The optical system project was shut down as part of the Apollo Project and converted to a technology program within NASA engineering. NASA Engineering then worked directly with Hughes for subsequent work.

Overall, the optical rendezvous development was considered the fastest and best development project anyone had ever worked on.

Cline'

After finally receiving the copy I sent him, I received the following email from Mr. Frasier:

'Got it. Thank you very much. I just scanned through all 448 pages. You've done a great job, and put in a lot of work, doing all the scanning.

I would not call the document a manual. It is Hughes proposal for a full development of the system.

If my memory is correct, Hughes was awarded a $100K contract around June 1, 1965, for a design definition phase -- to last 90 days.
Since the document was written in July 65, it looks like it was preparation for a full proposal to go to full scale development. That was awarded sometime in September 1965.

An interesting thing is how quickly Hughes put together such a comprehensive document.
They must of had some advance knowledge of what we were thinking of inside NASA, MIT/IL and Grumman.

I'm guessing this because I'm quite sure that AC Electronics didn't have a clue until May 1965.

Cline'

 This was the last communication I had with Mr. Frasier. I hope all is well with him. An invaluable source of priceless information about this item from someone who was on the front lines in the United States manned space program and our eventual landings on the moon.

Thank you Mr. Frasier!

Manned Space Program Replica 'Toys'

 

I have been lugging these 'toys' around with me during three different moves since about 1999. I have two of each. I did a google search on these items but could not really find these items on the web which leads me to believe they may be rare pieces as far as 'toys' go. They are all mint, pristine, still in original boxes/blister packs. I still have the receipt for two of the sets. I bought the 'Apollo 11 First Lunar Landing' sets and the 'Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Shuttle Astronaut' figures sets from a 'Johnson Smith Company' which may not even be in business anymore. I may have bought the 'Space Voyagers Lunar Rover Vehicle' sets from the same company at the same time but don't have the receipt for them. They are very cool detailed plastic replicas!! Take a look below.

 APOLLO 11
FIRST LUNAR LANDING REPLICAS
 

 

  

 

 

  

 

MERCURY, GEMINI, APOLLO, SHUTTLE
ASTRONAUT FIGURES
  

 

 SPACE VOYAGERS
LUNAR ROVER VEHICLES REPLICAS
 

 

NASA Flight Controller John Cooper Archive: Vintage Apollo 16 Flight Plan Change A Vintage Apollo 16 LM Cue Card Change A Vintage Apollo 16 LM Lunar Surface Checklist Revision A

 

Here are three awesome vintage Apollo 16 flight controller used items I recently obtained from the family of NASA Flight Controller John Cooper. According to the family, Coopers' sister 'has decided to part with several boxes of material that belonged to her brother, John H. Cooper, a NASA engineer and geology-specialist flight controller at the Manned Spacecraft Center (later re-named Johnson Space Center) during the Apollo Program. According to [the] family, he was also involved in the development of the Lunar Rover. He died in early 1973, near the summit of Mt. Aconcagua (Argentina), shortly after participating in Apollo 17, the last manned moon mission. Below is a screenshot of him from the NASA documentary, "On the Shoulders of Giants," which includes footage of him taken during Apollo 17.'

There are some very interesting notations made by Cooper on the below pages which have been excerpted from these documents! 
 

  JOHN COOPER
NASA FLIGHT CONTROLLER

 

 

APOLLO 16 FLIGHT PLAN CHANGE A 
COVER

 

 

PAGE 3-1
COOPER IS 'ON CONSOLE'
'LIFT OFF ONTIME'
'GO FOR ORBIT'

 

 

 PAGE 3-2
'SIVB APS LEAKING BUT NOT SUFFICIENTLY TP PREVENT TLI AND TD E.'
 'MIGHT HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE SIVB LUNAR IMPACT OBJECTIVE' 

 

 

 PAGE 3-5
'GO' FOR TLI
TLI 'ON TIME'
'SECO ON TIME'
'GO' FOR TRANSPOSITION AND DOCKING

 

 

 PAGE 3-6
'HARD DOCK'
'GO FOR LM EJECTION'

 

 

 PAGE 3-9
'KRANZ ON FD'
 'NORTH AMERICA CLEAR OF CLOUDS FROM LAKE MICHIGAN TO SOUTH OF YUCATAN MEX.'

 

 

  PAGE 3-11
'POTENTIAL PROBLEM DEVELOPED: DUKE OBSERVED FLAKING OF MATERIAL FROM THERMAL BLANKET IN AREA OF LM RCS "A" AREA.  COVERS HE AND O2 TANKS. MAY BE TANK LEAKAGE OR JUST PAINT PEELING OFF THE AL THERMAL COVERING.'

  

 

  PAGE 3-12

'GRIFF SICK. DOUBLE SHIFT'
(GERRY GRIFFIN?)

 

 

 

 PAGE 3-13
'POWERED UP LM TO LOOK AT RCS QUAD A PROP TANK QUALITIES AND PRESSURES'
'ALL DATA LOOKED GOOD'
'TV OF AREA UNDER DISCUSSION DIDN'T SHOW ANY SOURCE FOR THE PROBLEM BUT COULD SEE THE FLAKING VERY WELL'

 

 

 PAGE 3-20
'P37 PADS' CALCULATIONS
'G. GRIFFIN ON'

 

 

 PAGE 3-61
'MOON 
V=3668.1
h=18063.9 NM'

 

 

  PAGE 3-74
'PREDICTED SIVB IMPACT 1 50' N 23 18' W'
'IMPACTED AT  21:02:02 ... FROM APOLLO 12 ALSEP...'

 

 

PAGE 3-84
'IN LUNAR ORBIT' 

  

 

 

 PAGE 3-112
INTERESTING HANDWRITTEN BLOCK GRAPH  

 
 

 

 PAGE 3-349
'NOMINAL BURN'
ASSOCIATED FIGURES 

 

 

 PAGE 3-352
EVA OPERATIONS
CHECKMARKS
'HATCH OPEN' 

 

 

 

 PAGE 3-353
CMP AND LMP DOFF BIOMED HARNESS
'HEART RATE GOT AS HIGH AS 170'
(DUKE?)

 

 

 PAGE 3-354
'LMP STARTING IN HATCH'
'REPRESS FROM EVA' 

 

 

 PAGE 3-394
'290:08:38'
'RECOVERY FORCES ON STATION'
':32 FROM LDG-ALL ASTRO'S ON BOARD HELO'

 

 

 PAGE 5-16
'191:00 = 213:00 OF ORIGINAL FLT PLN.'
'CONTINUE EQUIPMENT TRANSFER FROM LM' 

  

 

 PAGE 5-19
217:00
LM JETT
CSM SEP
'COULD NOT GET  LM THRUSTERS TO FIRE DUE FAULTY CS CONFIGURATION IN LM DURING LM CLOSEOUT' 

 

 

  PAGE 5-20
236:00
'CREW STILL SLEEPING'

 

 

 PAGE 5-23
272:00
SKYLAB CONTAMINATION PHOTOS
'SKYLAB CONTAM'
NUMEROUS CALCULATIONS 

 

 

 

 APOLLO 16 LM CUE CARD CHANGE A  
 

COVER

 

 

  LIST OF EFFECTIVE PAGES  DESCRIBING NUMEROUS LM CUE CARDS

 

 

  

 

 'LM CUE CARD LOCATIONS'
CONFIGURATION 

 

 

 APOLLO 16 LM LUNAR SURFACE CHECKLIST
REVISION A  

 COVER

 

 

LIST OF EFFECTIVE PAGES, WITH NOTATIONS  

 

 

 

 

  CONTENTS, WITH NOTATIONS

 

 

 NOTATION INDICATING CORRESPONDS
TO 'FLT PLAN 3-110'

 

 

 

NOTATION INDICATING CORRESPONDS
TO 'FLT PLAN 3-112' 

 

 

 NOTATION INDICATING CORRESPONDS
TO 'FLT PLAN P 3-112'

INTERESTING HANDWRITTEN GRAPH NOTATIONS 

 

 

  NOTATION INDICATING CORRESPONDS
TO 'FLT PLAN 3-112'

  

 

 

Deke Slayton Personal Papers: Memo Reference 'USAF Pilot Astronaut Rating And Pilot Astronaut Badge' dated '5 December 1961'

 

I recently obtained this memo for a very reasonable price. No other collectors seemed to grasp the significance of this item! It is verified to have come from Deke Slaytons' personal papers and eventually ended up in the possession of a Sandy Clarkson. Through an email, Mr. Clarkson advised me that this item was obtained by him from a friend of his about five years ago who had worked with Deke Slaytons' widow in selling some of Slaytons' personal papers.

 

COVER PAGE

 

 I find paragraph 2 particularly interesting since it states
'All USAF male officers who meet the requirements.... are eligible'!!! 
Translation: ONLY RED BLOODED AMERICAN MALES NEED APPLY!!!
Obviously written way before political correctness got a stranglehold on America!!!
This was back when men were men and women were glad of it!!! 

 

PAGE 2

 

BACK PAGE 2

 

 

This notation was added by Clarkson on back of page 2 documenting source of memo.

Very cool item which provides a glimpse into a different (and in some ways better) time in America.

 

R.I.P. Commander Paul Weitz- Space Shuttle Challenger- Mission STS-6- Flown Cue Cards

 Commander Paul Weitz passed away on
October 23rd, 2017.

He will be missed.

 

Here are my two STS-6 flown cue cards signed/inscribed by Mission Commander Weitz.  STS-6, the first Challenger mission, lifted off at 1:30 P.M. EST on April 4th 1983. It marked the first use of a new lightweight external tank and lightweight SRB casings. STS-6 carried a crew of four – Commander Weitz; Pilot Karol J. Bobko; and Mission Specialists Donald H. Peterson and Story Musgrave. Using new spacesuits designed specifically for the Space Shuttle program, Peterson and Musgrave successfully accomplished the program's first extravehicular activity (EVA), performing various tests in the orbiter's payload bay. Their spacewalk lasted 4 hours and 17 minutes. Challenger returned to Earth at 10:53 A.M. PST on April 9th 1983, landing on Runway 22 at Edwards AFB. During the mission, it completed 80 orbits, traveling 2 million miles (as did these cue cards!) in 5 days, 23 minutes and 42 seconds. It was flown back to KSC on 16 April 1983. 

On January 28, 1986, Challenger exploded 73 seconds into Mission STS-51-L,  killing all seven of it's crew members. 

 

 

STS-6 Crew.
Commander Weitz is seated middle.

 

 

Commander Weitz, myself, and both cue cards.
 Spacefest IV, June 2012.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Space Shuttle Challenger Mission STS-6 Flown Cue Cards

 

 Here are my two STS-6 flown cue cards signed/inscribed by Mission Commander Paul Weitz.

 STS-6, the first Challenger mission, lifted off at 1:30 P.M. EST on April 4th 1983. It marked the first use of a new lightweight external tank and lightweight SRB casings. STS-6 carried a crew of four – Commander Paul J. Weitz; Pilot Karol J. Bobko; and Mission Specialists Donald H. Peterson and Story Musgrave. Using new spacesuits designed specifically for the Space Shuttle program, Peterson and Musgrave successfully accomplished the program's first extravehicular activity (EVA), performing various tests in the orbiter's payload bay. Their spacewalk lasted 4 hours and 17 minutes. Challenger returned to Earth at 10:53 A.M. PST on April 9th 1983, landing on Runway 22 at Edwards AFB. During the mission, it completed 80 orbits, traveling 2 million miles (as did these cue cards!) in 5 days, 23 minutes and 42 seconds. It was flown back to KSC on 16 April 1983. 

On January 28, 1986, Challenger exploded 73 seconds into Mission STS-51-L,  killing all seven of it's crew members. 

 

 

  FRONT A

 

 

BACK  A 

 

 FRONT B

 

 

BACK B 

 

 COA   

 

Picture of myself and Weitz with the cue cards.
June 2012 Spacefest IV.

 

 

STS-6 Crew.
Commander Weitz seated middle.

  

 

STS-6 Launch

  

 

STS-6  Landing

   

 

STS-6 Logo

R.I.P. Gene Cernan: 'The Last Man On The Moon'.

 

Cernan on the moon during Apollo 17!

Here are a couple of pictures which remind me of
two very nice interactions I had with Cernan. 

 

 

Cernan posing with my wifes' two grandchildren
at Spacefest IV in Tucson AZ June 2012.
Two 'Last Man On The Moon' books and a photo of
Page 1-9 from the Apollo 17 'Lunar Surface Checklist', 
all of which he signed/inscribed for me,
can be seen in the bottom left foreground.

 

 

For an amazing story on why I had him sign/inscribe the
photo of Page 1-9 from the Apollo 17 'Lunar Surface Checklist'
see my post titled: 

 'Apollo 17
'Lunar Surface Checklist' Page 1-9
Used On The Moons' Surface'

 

 

Cernan holding two Apollo 17 mail covers
he signed for me at Spacefest V
in Tucson AZ May 2013.

 Thanks for the memories Gene.

R.I.P. JOHN GLENN

To John-Thanks For Everything!!!!

THE END OF AN ERA!!!

Commemorative Postal Cover Signed By 19 Early Russian Cosmonauts

 

I recently obtained this item primarily because I was excited about the number of Cosmonaut signatures on it! I know that three of the signatures belong to Cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova (first woman in space), Alexey Leonov (first EVA), and Vladislav Volkov (perished on Soyuz 11). Just having these three signatures on an item would be awesome, but there are still 17 others which I have yet to fully identify. 

  

 

Looking at some exemplar signatures of some other Cosmonauts, I believe that Alexei Eliseev, Vladimir Shatalov, and Georgi Shonin may be three other Cosmonauts whose signatures appear on this item.

As for the other 14, I have no idea.

I would really appreciate any help that can be provided in identifying these other 14 signatures.

UPDATE

On November 12, 2016, I received an email from a new Russian friend in response to my above request for assistance in identifying the signatures on this item. My friend provided me with the below photo of my item, on which he identified all 19 Cosmonaut signatures!  

 

Thank you Sergey!!!

Vintage Apollo11 Anniversary Cover Signed By USS Hornet Captain Carl J. Seiberlich And Artist Detlev Van Ravenswaay

 

Here is a neat little piece I obtained from a well known space artifact dealer. This item was signed by Carl J. Seiberlich, then Captain of the USS Hornet, which was the recovery ship for both the Apollo 11 and 12 astronauts and capsules, AND it also has an original hand drawn cachet by artist Detlev van Ravenswaay! The cachet is signed in pencil as 'van waay'. I subsequently contacted Ravenswaay and inquired about the cachet. He sent me a reply as follows: 'It is long ago I painted the cover. I am sure it is signed "van waay".' Seiberlich was a Rear Admiral when he signed the cover which is postmarked July 24, 1973. Very cool! I now use this cachet as the logo for my profile on this site! 

 

 

Vintage Mail Cover NASA's First Female Astronauts Signed By All Six!

 

About two years ago I obtained this 'NASA names 35 New Space Shuttle Astronauts' mail cover postmarked January 16, 1978 Houston TX. This group of 35 included America's first six female astronauts! When I obtained this cover it had already been signed by five of the six. The only signature it did not have was Rhea Seddons'. As you can see, it now has the signatures of all six of NASA's first female astronauts: Kathryn D. Sullivan, Sally Ride,  Anna Lee Fisher, Judith A. Resnik, Shannon Lucid, and last, but not least, Rhea Seddon!

 

 

  Thanks to the efforts of a fellow collector, Seddon signed the item at the Astronaut Scholarship Foundations' 'Astronaut Autograph and Memorabilia Show' November 2014. The below picture shows her holding the item after signing!

 

 

 According to the collector who obtained Seddons' signature for me, she was excited to see this item and immediately recognized the significance of the postmark date on the cover!

Vintage Project Apollo LM Abort Guidance System 'AGS Parameter Determination' Manual

 

Here is another little gem I recently obtained at a surprisingly reasonable cost.
Note 'Long Island Facilities-Bethpage Area'.
This was where the Lunar Module was built.
This below pages appear to provide procedures to be
followed by workers who were hands on building the LM!

 COVER PAGE

I can't quite decipher the name on this cover page.
It looks like 'JAUGAL'.
If anyone knows who this is please let me know.
They could have worked for either NASA, or Grumman,
the builders of the LM on Long Island.
This item is dated 09/15/67.

  

 

PAGES 1-17, 1-18, 1-23

These pages include:
LM 'CABIN ENTRY PREREQUISITES',
LM 'CABIN ENTRY PROCEDURES', LM 'CABIN EXIT PROCEDURES', 
and a 'LM CABIN - CONTROL AND DISPLAYS' Figure 1-1. 

 

 

  

Apollo 12 Vintage Science Operations Room Console Handbook 1969

 

Sometimes I see an item and debate whether or not I should buy it. This is one of those items. I thought it over for a few weeks but then decided to take a chance on it and boy am I glad I did. This is one of my surprisingly pleasant little gems! This item belonged to, and was notated by, NASA Flight Controller John Cooper.  It is a very cool piece of manned space program history!

 

FRONT COVER

 

 

COOPER MADE HANDWRITTEN PENCIL NOTATIONS
ON THE BELOW PAGES WHILE MONITORING THE
ASTRONAUTS AS PART OF HIS RESPONSIBILITIES AS A
FLIGHT CONTROLLER FOR THE APOLLO 12 MISSION

 

FLIGHT DIRECTORS' MISSION LOG
PAGE 1

 'LAUNCHED APOLLO 12 CONRAD GORDON & BEAN
SOME STATIC ELECTRICITY DISCHARGE OR HIT BY LIGHTNING DURING LIFT-OFF.
THIS ACTIVATED MANY LIGHTS AND ALARMS.
NO APPARENT PROBLEMS.' 

  

 

FLIGHT DIRECTORS' MISSION LOG
PAGE 4

LM 'LOCATION IS ABOUT 25 FT. IN FRONT OF THE
SURVEYOR III CRATER. CONRAD CAN SEE THE
SURVEYOR III ABOUT 600' AWAY.' 

 

 

FLIGHT  DIRECTORS' MISSION LOG
PAGE 5

 'SHADOW OF LM NOW [APPROXIMATELY] 110' PER PLOT.'

 

 

FLIGHT DIRECTORS' MISSION LOG
PAGE 7 

'MANNED PLOT POSITION AND REVIEWED THE
PROPOSED TRAVERSE... (SEE LSE 7-6G LM -> ALSEP TO
V SIDE -> HEAD TO ROLL RX -> BENCH
-> SHARP TR CP GAC-> HALO C,P-> SV III
-> BLOCK -> LM)'.

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT COOPER NOTATED ON  THE
APOLLO 12 LUNAR SURFACE EXPLORATION MAP
LSE 7-6G AS SEEN BELOW THIS PAGE

 

 

LUNAR SURFACE EXPLORATION MAP 7-6G
INSERTED INTO THE HANDBOOK

(INSET BOLD NOTATIONS ADDED BY ME)

Cooper penciled in this diagram as it pertained to the Apollo 12 EVA activity. Note the location of the LM in relation to the SURVEYOR III Probe. As part of their EVA activities Apollo 12 Astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean were to retrieve portions of the Surveyor III spacecraft, which had soft-landed on the moon April 20, 1967, a short distance from the selected landing site of Apollo 12.

 

 

 CONRAD  LOOKING OVER SURVEYOR III WITH LM IN BACKGROUND

 

  

 

FLIGHT DIRECTORS' MISSION LOG
PAGE 8

'DEPARTED HALO CRATER FOR SURVEYOR III. WHAT IS SO OUTSTANDING ABOUT THIS WHOLE MISSION IS THE CALMNESS WITH WHICH EVERYONE IS TAKING THE FACT THAT WE LANDED JUST ALONGSIDE  THE SURVEYOR III S/C. I THINK IT'S GREAT AND FOR THE CREW IT MUST BE A WONDERFUL SIGHT- SOMETHING FAMILIAR IN A LONESOME, HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT.' 

  

 

FLIGHT DIRECTORS' LOG
PAGE 9

 'BEGAN SURVEYOR III ACTIVITIES. PHOTOS + SPLS. CREW REPORTS COLOR OF S/C IS BROWN. EXPO SAYS IT STARTED OUT WHITE.' ' SURVEYOR TV CAMERA COLLECTED AND BAGGED. THEY ARE GOING TO BRING SCOOP BACK ALSO. IT STILL HAS DIRT IN IT... THE CUTTING TOOL WAS DISCARDED THIS SITE (SVIII)
WILL NOW BE QUITE A SIGHT FOR AN ALIEN BEING TO SEE. THE LM DESCENT STAGE AND A SCAVENGED SURVEYOR.' 

 

 

Amazing observations from a first person perspective!! 

For Sale Vintage 1968 NASA Manned Spaceflight Booklet

 

For sale here is a vintage NASA 'Manned Space Flight' Booklet from 1968 priced at $100.00 plus shipping to anywhere in the U.S., ONLY. NO FOREIGN SHIPPING. This book is in used condition with normal signs of use/toning/aging from that era. I have separated each page from this booklet and put each one into a protective sleeve for safekeeping since it is vintage, and that is the way it will be shipped to you! Front and back covers, card stock. Approximately 89 double sided pages. Some very interesting pages as can be seen below. Payment accepted through PAYPAL ONLY! More pictures upon request. Email me if interested. 

 

 

 

 

Vintage 'Associated Press' Glossy Photo Showing Graphic of Freedom 7's Lift-off, Flight Path,and Splashdown Area With Original Caption Affixed to Reverse

 

Here is another surprisingly pleasant little gem I recently acquired in an online auction. Something about the simplistic, yet informative, 60's graphics drew me to it and luckily I was the only bidder. It also came with a little added bonus that was not shown in the auctions' listing .

Here is how the auction company described the item: 'Vintage Glossy Associated Press 7x9 Press Photo Showing Shepard’s Lift-off, Flight Path, and Splashdown Area With Original Caption Affixed to Reverse'. I thought by 'caption' they meant someone had written something on the back of the photo describing what it was because the first picture below shows the item as listed by the auction company. But when I received the photo, I found out that the 'caption' was actually the piece of paper attached to the photo as seen in the second picture below. The 'caption' is affixed to the back of the picture and, as can be seen, it folds over the front of the picture from back to front. So when it was  folded down off the front of the photo by the auction company, it did not show up in their listing picture.

As can be seen below, this 'caption' indicates that this photo is an 'Associated Press Map', originating from 'New York City', titled 'Where Space Capsule Landed'. The 'caption'  states 'Map Locates Area In Atlantic Ocean Where Mercury Space Capsule Containing Navy Cmdr. Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Landed , May 5, After Successful Launching From Cape Canaveral'. It is dated '5-5-61'.  The following is also stamped on the back of the photo: 'LIBRARY FILED May 15, 1961 NOT USED'.  

Very Cool!!!    

 

 PHOTO
WITHOUT 'CAPTION'

 

 

 

 PHOTO
WITH 'CAPTION' FOLDED OVER FRONT

 

 

 'CAPTION' IN ENTIRETY

  

 

PHOTO BACK

 

Apollo 7 Astronaut Walt Cunninghams' 1970's Era Sony TC-55 'Cassette-Corder'

 

I recently obtained this little gem for my collection. I had seen it for sale for some time and finally gave in and bought it at a good price. It is one of those items you're not quite sure about until it arrives and you see what a cool piece it actually is! It fits right in with what I like to collect: vintage items connected to astronauts and/or the manned space program which have obvious signs of use.

This Sony 'Cassette-Corder' was used by Apollo 7 Astronaut Walt Cunningham in the 1970's to record the original draft of his book 'The All American Boys'. If the below picture of the COA signed by Cunningham wasn't enough confirmation of its' vintage status, all doubt was removed when I opened up the battery compartment!! What a mess!! I believe it still had the original batteries in it, and they had not aged well, leaking their contents all over the inside of the compartment. Cunningham should really think about changing his batteries at least once every 40 years!!!

Once I got the old batteries out, I put some new batteries in but the darned thing would not work. I had to take some sand paper and rub away the corrosion on the battery terminals, replace the batteries, and then the old 'Cassette-Corder' fired right up!! Very cool. Played with it for a couple of days, recording nonsense etc., and then retired it for the time being. This time the batteries were not left in!!

It is pretty cool to think that Cunningham used this item for a couple of years back in the 1970's to record his thoughts which were the basis for his excellent book.

When I bought this item, I also received a Cunningham autographed softcover copy
of his book!! 

FRONT
(MY CASSETTE TAPE IS IN)

 

BACK
(SPEAKER)

 

 TAPE COMPARTMENT OPEN
(A VERY NICE SURPRISE: CUNNINGHAM HAD
AUTOGRAPHED THE INSIDE OF THE
COMPARTMENT COVER)

 

 

AN ORIGINAL INSTRUCTION MANUAL
CAME WITH THE ITEM 

 

 

COA

 

'THE ALL AMERICAN BOYS'

 

 

TITLE PAGE SIGNED BY CUNNINGHAM

 

Chinese Space Program Shenzhou 9 Launch Cover

 

Wonderfully vibrant illustration on this Chinese Shenzou 9 Launch Cover boldly signed by Mission Commander Jing Haipeng, Crewman Liu Wang, and Crewman Liu Yang. On this mission, Haipeng became the first Chinese astronaut to fly in space more than once, and Liu Yang became Chinas' first female astronaut to fly in space. Chinas' fourth manned spaceflight, Shenzou 9 launched from Chinas' Jiquan Launch Center on June 16, 2012. This cover appears to be postmarked June 16, 2012 at the Jiquan Launch Center.

 

 

 Below is a picture of the crew after returning to Earth.
From left: Liu Wang, Jing Haipeng and Liu Yang. 
The Shenzhou-9 re-entry capsule is seen on the right. 
June 29, 2012.

 

 

 

Apollo 17 Signed Mail Covers

 

I love both of these covers. As can be seen below, both are
vibrantly illustrated and in great condition.

While recently waiting in line to have these signed by Apollo 17 Commander Gene Cernan, he was telling stories to people ahead of me. One of the stories he told involved him recently buying some type of large statues in Scottsdale Arizona and when he called his wife to tell her about the purchase, she basically told him he better not come home if he had purchased any more of those types of statues for their house! I guess even astronaut heroes have to answer to that higher power back at home!

After he signed my covers, I asked him if would hold them so I could take his picture with them and he said he would but he felt like he had to sneeze. I kidded with him and told him to please turn his head to the side so he wouldn't sneeze on my covers! I then told him that if he did sneeze on my covers I would have his DNA [to do with as I wished]!

Overall a very pleasant wait and subsequent signing.

 

 

Apollo 17 Launch Day Cover Postmarked
on December 7, 1972 at Kennedy Space Center.
Signed by Apollo 17 Astronauts Ron Evans,
Gene Cernan, and Harrison Schmitt.

 

 

   Cernan Signing the Launch Day Cover.

 

 

Apollo 17 Moon Liftoff Cover
Postmarked December 14, 1972
at Kennedy Space Center. 
Signed by Schmitt and Cernan.

 

Cernan Signing the Moon Liftoff Cover.

 

 

Cernan Holding Both Signed Covers.

Cernan, the 'Last Man On The Moon',
has since passed away.

Deke Slaytons' 'USAF Experimental Flight Test School Performance Flight Tests of the Lockheed T-33A Jet Trainer' Circa 1955

 

Here is Deke Slaytons' early T-33A Flight Test Report from Edwards Air Force Base dating back to 1955 loaded with what are presumed to be Slaytons' handwritten notes, charts, and equations. About 50 pages of charts and foldouts. The back few pages were in rough shape and some had to be cropped but its' wear and tear is what makes me excited about owning something that Slayton authored such a long time ago! Slayton was chosen as one of the original Mercury Seven Astronauts in 1959. Unfortunately, Slayton passed away on June 13, 1993 after having been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.

 

COVER

 

 

TITLE PAGE

The below page shows Slayton was both the pilot and engineer for these tests.
Slaytons' initials, 'DKS', are at the end of the
'Technical Note No.', along with the location, 'AFFTC', and year, '55'. 

 

 PUBLICATION REVIEW

Below is the approval page with original signatures of Major James H. Polve and Lieutenant Colonel John R. Amann.  Although Polve's name is typed as 'James A. Polve', it is clearly written as 'James H. Polve'. The only info I could find on Polve was that he wrote a report titled 'Performance Flight Testing' @ 1954 which was written while he was at the 'USAF Experimental Flight Test Pilot School' at Edwards Air Force Base. This report was  published in 1954 by the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah.

Amann was Commandant of the 'USAF Experimental Flight Test Pilot School' from 
May 1, 1951-May 25, 1956.

In Slaytons' book, 'DEKE! U.S. MANNED SPACE: FROM MERCURY TO THE SHUTTLE', published in 1994, Slayton states that he arrived at Edwards Air Force Base in June 1955 and graduated from the USAF Experimental Flight Test School in December 1955. He also said that 'The guy in charge of the school was a Major Folvy'. He obviously meant 'Polve'.  Another interesting statement by Slayton in his book is that 'In those days we did all our academic work-running all our performance numbers-on little hand calculators or slide rules. Today guys in test pilot school are sitting there with laptops. They can do more real- time calculating in five minutes than we could do in a six month course. Flight test instrumentation was archaic as hell... I suppose it was risky. You didn't know what performance you really had until you got back and looked at the data... We had to lay out a flight plan and say, okay, I think I can go this far this time. If you guessed right you were okay. If you didn't...'.  

      

 

ABSTRACT

The 'student' mentioned below is Slayton. 

 

FLIGHT LOG

 

 

DATA SHEET/GRAPHS

 Below are some examples of the aggregate data and report writing done by Slayton.
The graphs were done by Slayton the old fashioned way:
by hand using graph paper, a slide rule and a pencil! 

 

 

FLIGHT DATA SHEETS

Below are three 'Flight Data Sheets' with Slaytons' handwritten notations.

 

ACCELERATIONS-20,000 FT.

 

 

ACCELERATIONS-30,000 FT.

 

 

ACCELERATIONS- 40,000 FT.

 

CHECK CLIMB

 

There were some symbols that apparently were not on the typewriters of that era. As you can see on the below typed pages, Slayton had to enter a lot of those by hand. Pages 6 and 7 below have quite a few of Slaytons' handwritten notations.

 

 

 

T-33A

Below is a vintage picture of a T-33A which was included in Slaytons' report. It is not known if this is one of the planes he tested for this report. The tail number of the plane in the picture looks like '9933' which does not correspond to what Slayton records as the serial  number or aircraft number of the plane(s) he tested and reported on.

 

 

BACK OF T-33A PICTURE

 

Apollo 15 Moonwalker Jim Irwin Handwritten Letter Referencing Sale Of An Apollo 15 Surface Flown Crew Cover

 

I recently obtained the below letter, handwritten by Apollo 15 Moonwalker Jim Irwin, in which he discusses the sale of one of his 'cherished A-15 First Day Covers'. This letter comes from the 'Ulrich Loeffler autograph and space collection' as described below. It appears that Irwin is talking about the 'Apollo 15 Surface Flown Crew Covers' which were on the moon with him and fellow Moonwalker Dave Scott during the Apollo 15 Mission. In this letter, Irwin tells Loeffler that 'The cost of the cover is requested $5000'. Toward the end of the letter, Irwin tells Loeffler he will be 'with Siegfried Fritz in November' and asks Loeffler if he should 'bring one of the flight covers'. In addition to the cover references, Irwin also writes 'Thanks for your good wishes for Ararat and Noah's Ark search'. Beginning in 1973, Irwin led several expeditions to Mount Ararat in Turkey searching of the remains of Noahs' Ark. I also find it interesting that Irwin ends the letter with 'Your Grateful Brother From The Moon'. 

  Irwin served as Lunar Module Pilot for the Apollo 15 Mission which lasted from July 26 to August 7, 1971. Unfortunately, Irwin passed away prematurely from a heart attack in 1991. It is awesome to think that this American Hero actually wrote this letter and now it is in my collection!

This letter ties in nicely to my post entitled 'Apollo 15 Sieger/Crew Owned Mail Cover Flown to the Moons' Surface'. That post explains that there was a batch of 298 covers which Irwin and Scott had with them on the moon. After their return to earth, these covers were eventually divided up between Irwin, Scott and Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot Al Worden. Each of these 298 covers was assigned an identifying number. I have cover number '240', as can be seen in the below picture. It would be interesting to know which numbered covers each of the astronauts took into their possession so I could know which one originally had cover '240'.  

  IRWIN LETTER

 

 ULRICH LOEFFLER AUTOGRAPH
AND SPACE COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

 

MY APOLLO 15 SURFACE FLOWN COVER
NUMBERED '240'

 

 

LOA SIGNED BY IRWIN, SCOTT AND WORDEN
DATED JULY 19, 1983

IRWIN (AND COVER '240'!) ON THE MOON
 

Space Shuttle Mission STS-105 Astronaut Support Personnel Checklist

 

COVER
AUTOGRAPHED BY SCOTT HOROWITZ, DAN BARRY,  
AND A THIRD CREWMEMBER I BELIEVE TO BE 
PILOT RICK  STURCKOW.

 

APPROVAL PAGE

 

COA

 

INTERESTING PAGES

 

 

 

 

 

SHUTTLE GALLEY
(KITCHEN AREA)

 

 

SHUTTLE TOILET-WTF!

 

PRIMARY CREW

PILOT RICK  STURCKOW,
MISSION SPECIALIST PATRICK FORRESTER,
MISSION SPECIALIST DANIEL BARRY,  
AND COMMANDER SCOTT HOROWITZ

 

PRIMARY CREW ALONG WITH CREW ROTATING INTO THE ISS

 

HERE IS A PHOTOGRAPH AUTOGRAPHED BY 
PILOT RICK  STURCKOW WHICH I USED TO
IDENTIFY THE THIRD SIGNATURE
ON THE ABOVE ITEM.
 

MISSION STS-105 SHUTTLE DISCOVERY ON THE LAUNCH PAD

 

 

LIFTOFF
AUGUST 10, 2001

EVA

 

LANDING
AUGUST 22, 2001

 

Gemini IV Flown United States Flags

 

Gemini IV was the second manned space flight in NASA's Project Gemini. It launched on June 3rd, 1965 with Command Pilot Jim McDivitt and Pilot Ed White. McDivitt and White circled the Earth 66 times in four days, making it the first United States flight to approach the five-day flight of the Soviet Vostok 5. The highlight of the mission was the first EVA (space walk) by an American, during which White floated free outside the spacecraft, while tethered to it, for approximately 20 minutes. Both of these accomplishments helped the United States overcome the Soviet Unions' early lead in the Space Race.

Both these flags were inside the Gemini IV spacecraft during this mission and were witnesses to history! These are two of a number of flags McDivitt carried with him on this mission.

 

FLAG 1 AND COA

 

FLAG 1
CLOSEUP

 

FLAG 2 AND COA

 

 

FLAG 2
CLOSEUP

 

MCDIVITT SIGNING U.S. FLAGS HE CARRIED
WITH HIM DURING THE GEMINI IV MISSION

 

 

GEMINI IV CREW

WHITE (L) AND MCDIVITT (R)

 

GEMINI IV LAUNCH

 

 

WHITE EVA PHOTOS 

PICTURES TAKEN BY MCDIVITT
FROM THE GEMINI IV CAPSULE

 

 

 

 

Freedom, Personal Responsibility, and the Decline of America

 

I know this is my space collectibles blog, I just have to vent and exercise my right to freedom of speech before my opinions are branded as 'hate crimes' by the perpetually offended radical leftists who would most certainly try to censor this post if they could.

The below quote says it all for me in describing the recent election. I believe that the inmates are now completely in charge of the asylum! Conservatives have failed to understand that this political environment is a figurative street fight which will not be 'won' by 'discussing' ideas with radical leftists (aka takers, leeches, parasites, occupiers, community organizers) who are only interested in keeping a whole segment of American society dependent on an ever expanding Federal Government so they can remain in power. It will only be won when conservatives get aggressive and begin using figurative street fighting tactics in dealing with these radicals. Until they show these radical leftists that their figurative balls are bigger, the 'conservative' morons in Congress are doomed to get steamrolled by them on every issue.

As we have just seen, over 50 percent of the electorate are driven by base, self centered, selfish interests and could care less about things like national security, cover-ups, patriotism, sacrifice, self reliance, liberty, freedom, independence, service to others and this nation, American exceptionalism, or the fact that this nation is currently under the jackboot of radical, leftwing, incompetent 'leaders'. They hate everything that is good about America. They only care about protecting the taxpayer funded freebies provided to them by the radical leftwingers. When conservatives wake up and grow a figurative pair of balls then maybe this nation will have a chance to turn things around. Boehner needs to go as House Speaker. He is a weak double talker who will cave at the slightest hint of pressure from a 50 plus 1 liberal constituency which does not care about the United States of America. McConnell also needs to go. Both of them are girlie boys whom liberals do not fear. The two of them have caved more often than a Chinese coal mine! Conservatives need people with figurative balls the size of grapefruits in these leadership positions who will enthusiastically and aggressively confront these 'enemies within' (see takers, leeches, parasites, occupiers, community organizers). Until then this country will continue its' death spiral. If you want a glimpse into our future after Obama and his radical leftist legions finish sacking America, rent the movie 'Mad Max'.

"In the end more than they wanted freedom, they wanted security, [AND 'free' cell phones, welfare, 'free' housing, 'recreational' marijuana, government (aka taxpayer) bailouts, high unemployment, open borders, more entitlements, wealth redistribution, 'free' contraceptives, 'free' abortions on demand*, 'free' healthcare, 'gay' marriage, oppressive gun control and an ever expanding federal government]. When the [Americans] finally wanted not to give to society but for society to give to them, when the freedom they wished for was freedom from responsibility, then [America] ceased to be free [and ceased to be America]."

I feel like an unwanted stranger in my own country!

God Help Us All!

*Over 40 million abortions the past fifty years.

Apollo 9 Vintage Manual 'Recovery Requirements Apollo 9' Dated January 22, 1969

 

Here is my vintage 'Recovery Requirements Apollo 9' Manual
Dated January 22, 1969.

Apollo 9, was the third manned mission in the United States Apollo Space Program and the first flight of both the Command Service Module (CSM) with the Lunar Module (LM). Its' three-person crew, consisting of Commander Jim McDivitt, Command Module Pilot Dave Scott, and Lunar Module Pilot Rusty Schweickart, tested several aspects critical to landing on the Moon, including the LM engines, backpack life support systems, navigation systems, and docking maneuvers. The mission was the second manned launch of a Saturn V Rocket.

After launching on March 3, 1969, the crewmen spent ten days in low Earth orbit. They performed the first manned flight of a LM, the first docking and extraction of a LM, two spacewalks, and the second docking of two manned spacecraft. The mission proved the LM worthy of manned spaceflight.

Title speaks for itself as far as subject matter. No real historical significance other than it is vintage. Just one of hundreds given out at the time as can be seen in the below 'Distribution List', except that this one survived in relatively good shape. Appears complete. I included some interesting pages from this item as seen below.

 

COVER

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

 

MISSION DESCRIPTION

 

 

 

 

CSM/IVB ORBITAL OPERATIONS DIAGRAM

 

 

TRANSPOSITION, DOCKING
AND CSM/LM EJECTION DIAGRAM

 

 

DOCKED SPS BURNS DIAGRAM 

 

 

DOCKED DPS BURN DIAGRAM

 

 

EXTRAVEHICULAR ACTIVITY DIAGRAM

Because of Schweickarts' bout with space motion type sickness, this longer EVA was not attempted. However, Schweickart did complete a shorter EVA from the LM instead of the EVA described below. NASA wanted to keep the EVA period to a minimum because of the motion type sickness Schweickart experienced during the early part of the mission. There was a fear that if he threw up in his helmet while performing the EVA, he might choke on his vomit, so the EVA was shortened considerably.

 

 

LM ACTIVE RENDEZVOUS DIAGRAM

 

 

APS BURN TO DEPLETION DIAGRAM

 

 

CSM SPS BURNS DIAGRAM

 

 

TABLE 4-1.
PREDICTED IMPACT INFORMATION
FOR NONRECOVERABLE FLIGHT COMPONENTS

 

 

TABLE 4-2.
RECOMMENDED LAUNCH SITE
AREA RECOVERY FORCE SUPPORT

 

TABLE 4-3.
LANDING AREAS, ACCESS AND RETRIEVAL TIMES,
AND RECOMMENDED FORCE DEPLOYMENT 

 

 

TABLE 4-5.
LOGISTIC AIRCRAFT SUPPORT 

 

 

FIGURE 4-1
LAUNCH SITE AREA AND
RECOMMENDED FORCE DEPLOYMENT

 

 

FIGURE 4-2
LAUNCH ABORT AREA AND
RECOMMENDED FORCE DEPLOYMENT 

 

 

FIGURE 4-3
RECOMMENDED PRIMARY RECOVERY
FORCE DEPLOYMENT 

 

 

FIGURE 4-4
RECOVERY ZONES, CONTINGENCY AREA AND
RECOMMENDED AIRCRAFT STAGING BASES 

 

 

FIGURE 4-5
RECOMMENDED
SECONDARY RECOVERY FORCE DEPLOYMENT 

 

 

DISTRIBUTION LIST
PAGES B-1, B-2, B-3, B-4, B-5, B-6

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apollo 16 Vintage Manual 'Apollo 16 Flight Plan Change A' Dated March 27, 1972

 

 Here is my vintage 'Apollo 16 Flight Plan Change A' Dated March 27, 1972. No real historical significance other than it is vintage. Just one of hundreds given out at the time except that this one survived in relatively good shape. Missing back cover but otherwise appears complete. I was able to replace the back cover with a piece of card stock paper of similar color so that the item appears complete, as seen below. I included some pretty interesting pages from the item as seen below.

 The mission was crewed by Commander John Young, Lunar Module Pilot Charlie Duke, and Command Module Pilot Ken Mattingly. Launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:54 PM EST on 16 April 1972, the mission lasted eleven days, one hour, and fifty-one minutes, and concluded at 2:45 PM EST on 27 April 1972.

COVER

  

 

BACK REPLACEMENT COVER
WITH AGING, SHOULD BLEND IN NICELY

 

 
APOLLO 16 FILM BUDGET - CSM  

 

 

 

 

APOLLO 16 FILM BUDGET - LM 

 

 

 FLIGHT PLAN 

 PAGE 3-35

 

 

LM FLIGHT PLAN 

 PAGE 3-94  

  

 

PAGE 3-162

NOTE: 'PREP FOR EVA-2' AND  
'APPLY ANTI-FOG TO HELMETS' 

 

 

PAGE  3-210

NOTE: 'EQUIPMENT PREP FOR EVA-3' AND
'APPLY ANTI FOG TO HELMETS'

 

 

PAGE 3-232

NOTE: 'PREP FOR EQUIPMENT JETTISON',
'WEIGH BSLSS ROCK BAG & COLLECTION BAGS,
REPORT: WEIGHTS', 'WRAP & TIE LUNAR BOOTS, ARMRESTS, RCU'S, YO-YO'S',
AND 'POSITION PLSS'S FOR JETTISON'
 

 

PAGE 3-268

NOTE: AT 171:45 'LM LUNAR LIFT-OFF' AND AT 171:52:22.9 'LUNAR ORBIT INSERTION'

 

 

 

CSM FLIGHT PLAN  

PAGE 3-103

  NOTE: 'CSM LOW ALTITUDE LANDMARK TRACKING PROFILE' DIAGRAM'

   

 

PAGE 3-259

NOTE: 'CSM LANDMARK TRACKING PROFILE' DIAGRAM

 

PAGE 3-267

NOTE: 'DIRECT ASCENT RNDZ PAD' AND
'COELLIPTIC RNDZ PAD' TABLES 

 

 

FLIGHT PLAN PEN AND INK CHANGES 

 

 

 

 PEN AND INK CHANGES
TO CSM EXP/EVA CHECKLIST PROCEDURES

 

 

 

APOLLO 16 LAUNCH

 

 

APOLLO 16 ON THE MOON

 

Apollo 9 Flown Checklist 'Docking and Post Docking Leading to LM Jettison'

 

Here is my Apollo 9 flown cue card 'checklist for docking and post docking leading to Lunar Module jettison' notated by Apollo 9 Commander Jim McDivitt in his unique green style as 'Flown aboard Apollo 9'. During my meeting with him in Tucson AZ, McDivitt advised me that this 'checklist' was kept in the Command Service Module for use during the docking of 'Spider' (LM) with 'Gumdrop' (CSM), and subsequently for the jettison of 'Spider' from 'Gumdrop'. Apollo 9 was the first flight of the LM in a space environment.

 

 

Here is a picture of McDivitt holding the 'checklist' during my
meeting with him in Tucson. He was very talkative, informative,
and gracious during the meeting which lasted about an hour.

 

 

Below are the corresponding pages from the 
'Apollo 9 Flight Plan, Final'
which mirror the 'checklist'.

 

 

 

 

 

                                 

 

Below is a view of the Apollo 9 CSM from the Apollo 9 LM
during the docking maneuver.

 

Below is Table 3-I from the 'Apollo 9 PAO Mission Commentary Transcript'. This table provides the sequence of events for the LM undocking, testing, docking, and jettison phase of the Apollo 9 Mission.

 

  

Below are the Cover Page and Page 434 from the
'Apollo 9 Technical Air-To-Ground Voice Transcription'.
As can be seen on Page 434, Schweickart and McDivitt were
unable to get the rendezvous radar to 'unlock'. You can see in
the above flown 'checklist' that the RR (rendezvous radar) was
supposed to be off in preparation for the docking alignment.

   

 

 

The below is page 302/1 from the  'Apollo 9 PAO Mission Commentary Transcript'. It references preparation of the LM for the 'long burn of the ascent propulsion system' (APS) and its' 'burn to depletion'. The end of the above flown cue card references the LMs' 'APS BURN TO DEPLETION'. The Ascent Propulsion System in the LM was used to launch the LM Ascent Stage from the Lunar surface (using the Descent Stage as a launch pad) and carry it back into orbit for a rendezvous with the CSM.

  

Below is page 306/1 from the  'Apollo 9 PAO Mission Commentary Transcript'. It references CAPCOM giving the 'APS depletion PAD' and 'LM jettison attitude' to McDivitt and chweickart along with wanting to 'uplink... a state vector'. The above flown 'checklist' makes reference to the 'LM STATE VECTOR' and 'MNVR PAD' as per this transcript page. 

Below is page 308/2 from the 'Apollo 9 PAO Mission Commentary Transcript'. It references 'Rusty' (Schweickart) staying in the LM and 'configuring it for this ascent propulsion system burn to depletion'. The above flown 'checklist' references the 'LMP',  'OPEN APS INTERCONNECT', 'TRANSFER TO CSM' and 'CLOSE LM HATCH'. By this time, McDivitt had already transferred from the LM to the CSM.

 

 

Gemini VI Vintage Manual 'Project Gemini-MANNED SPACECRAFT CENTER-FLORIDA OPERATIONS-SPACECRAFT PRELAUNCH TEST PROCEDURE' Dated October 23, 1965

 

Here is my Vintage 'Project Gemini-MANNED SPACECRAFT CENTER-FLORIDA OPERATIONS-SPACECRAFT PRELAUNCH TEST PROCEDURE' Manual dated October 23, 1965. Although obviously used at the time, the graphics are still awesome as seen on the below cover. This manual was  prepared for the Gemini 6 Mission flown by Astronauts Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford. Gemini 6 was initially supposed to dock with the Agena Target Vehicle. This manual is basically a projected timeline of pre launch events.

The original Gemini 6 mission had been scheduled for launch on October 25, 1965 at 12:41 pm EDT. The mission was to include four dockings with the Agena Target Vehicle. Original mission plans also included the first live television coverage of the recovery of a U.S. spacecraft at sea by the recovery ship, the USS Wasp. The Wasp was fitted with ground station equipment by ITT to relay live television, via the Intelsat I (nicknamed the "Early Bird") satellite.

 Fifteen minutes after Schirra and Stafford boarded their Gemini 6 spacecraft in preparation for launch, the unmanned Agena Target Vehicle was launched. After a successful burn of the Atlas booster, the Agenas' secondary engines fired to separate it from the Atlas. But immediately after the Agenas' primary engine fired at the six minute mark into its' flight, telemetry was lost. A catastrophic failure apparently caused the vehicle to explode. Five separate radar targets were tracked over the Atlantic Ocean after the telemetry was lost. The Gemini 6 launch was subsequently canceled.

The rendezvous/docking objective was so critical to our incremental march to the moon that NASA subsequently decided to launch Gemini 6 while Gemini 7 was in earth orbit, using Gemini 7 as the rendezvous target. Gemini 7, manned by Commander Frank Borman and Pilot Jim Lovell, launched on December 4, 1965 and Gemini 6, manned by Schirra and Stafford, launched on December 15, 1965. As a result, Gemini 6 performed the first manned spacecraft rendezvous using Gemini 7 as the target instead of the Agena Target Vehicle, even though the two spacecraft could not actually dock.

 COVER

 

 

TITLE PAGE

 

 

PURPOSE

 

 

TOC

 

 

ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS KEY

 

 

PAGE 1

 

 

PAGE 8

Note entry 'Primary Flight Crew Begin Suit-Up' at T-165 00.

 

PAGE 10 

Note entry 'Flight Crew Ingress' at T-115 00.

 

 

PAGE 11

Note entry's 'Atlas Ignition' at T-095 04, and
'GAATV Release and Liftoff' at
T-095 00.

 

 

PAGE 13

Note entry 'Ejection Seat O Rings Unstowed' at T-030 00.

 

 

PAGE 14

Note entry 'Liftoff' at T-000 00. 

 

 

GEMINI 6 AND 7 RENDEZVOUS 

Gemini 7 in orbit, as photographed by Stafford from Gemini 6.

 

 

Gemini XII Vintage Manual 'Gemini XII Flight Plan-Final' Dated October 20, 1966

 

Here is my vintage 'Gemini XII Flight Plan-Final' dated October 20, 1966. 

It was the 10th and final manned Gemini flight. It launched November 11, 1966 with Jim Lovell as the Command Pilot and Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin as the Pilot. At the completion of Gemini 11, Americas' space program still had not demonstrated that an astronaut could work easily and efficiently outside the spacecraft. In preparation for Gemini XII, new, improved restraints were added to the outside of the capsule, and a new technique—underwater training—was introduced, which would become a staple of future space-walk simulation. Aldrins' two-hour, 20-minute tethered space-walk, during which he photographed star fields, retrieved a micrometeorite collector and did other chores, at last demonstrated the feasibility of extravehicular activity. Two more stand-up EVA's also went smoothly, as did the by-now routine rendezvous and docking with an Agena Target Vehicle which was done "manually" using the onboard computer and charts when a rendezvous radar failed. 

On the below 'Cover Page', there is a name written in the upper right corner which looks like 'Fran La Brie'. This name is also written on the back of the 'Rear Cover' as seen below, along with the inscription 'HANDS Off!'. I was able to find a reference to a Frances S. LaBrie in the December 9, 1964 issue of 'Nasa Space News Roundup' under the 'Welcome Aboard Section' as having joined the Manned Spacecraft Centers' Flight Crew Support Division. As can be seen on the below Cover Page, this flight plan was prepared by the 'FLIGHT CREW SUPPORT DIVISION'.  

 

  

 
COVER PAGE SIGNED BY LOVELL AND ALDRIN

Through mail in signings at Novaspace,
I was able to get Lovell and Aldrin
to sign the item.

 

                                           

Lovell Signing

 

 

Aldrin Signing
  

BACK OF REAR COVER

 

APPROVAL PAGE

  This is the 'APPROVAL PAGE'. As shown below, it was  approved by Warren J. North who was  Nasa's Chief of the Flight Crew Support Division from 1962 to 1971. You can see the following handwritten notation on this page:

'Capt. James A. Lovell
Maj. Edwin E. Aldrin

November 11, 1966
Lift-off at 20:46:33.419 (3:46:33)' 

This notation is interesting for a couple of reasons.
Officially,  Gemini XII launched November 11, 1966, at 3:46:33 p.m. EST (15:46:33), which is written in parentheses as shown below next to the time of 20:46:33.419. This would indicate that La Brie was in a place that was five hours ahead of EST when he/she made this notation. This would place La Brie in either West Africa, Portugal, or England at the time of launch. In addition it refers to Aldrin as 'Edwin E.' rather than the more familiar 'Buzz'.

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION PAGE

This page explains that the layout for this flight plan is as follows:

SECTION I

Contains the detailed procedures for Launch through First Docking, Preretro and Reentry.

SECTION II

Contains procedures for all mission activities (experiments, EVA, etc.).

SECTION III

Contains the timeline of the entire mission.

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

 

 

 

 

The below 'FLIGHT PLAN' timeline pages 1-4,6 are
examples that show what activities were planned 
for shortly after lift-off.   

FLIGHT PLAN
PAGE 1 

 

FLIGHT PLAN
PAGE 2

 

 

FLIGHT PLAN
PAGE 3

 

FLIGHT PLAN
PAGE 4

 

 

FLIGHT PLAN
PAGE 6

 

The below pages are taken from the official 'GEMINI XII VOICE COMMUNICATIONS, AIR-TO-GROUND, GROUND-TO-AIR, AND ON-BOARD TRANSCRIPTION'. Parts of these transcript pages are highlighted showing the activities that were actually taking place onboard the spacecraft and the corresponding number of the relevant 'FLIGHT PLAN' page(s) above. 

 

COVER PAGE

 

TRANSCRIPT
PAGE 1

Corresponds to 'FLIGHT PLAN' Pages 1 and 2 above.

 

TRANSCRIPT
PAGE 2

Corresponds to 'FLIGHT PLAN' pages 2 and 3 above.

 

TRANSCRIPT
PAGE 3

Corresponds to 'FLIGHT PLAN' page 3 above.

 

 

TRANSCRIPT
PAGE 4

Corresponds to 'FLIGHT PLAN' pages 3 and 4 above.

 

 

TRANSCRIPT
PAGE 5

Corresponds to 'FLIGHT PLAN' page 6 above.

 

TRANSCRIPT
PAGE 6

Corresponds to 'FLIGHT PLAN' page 6 above.

 

TRANSCRIPT
PAGE 7

Corresponds to 'FLIGHT PLAN' page 6 above.

 

TRANSCRIPT
PAGE 8

Corresponds to 'FLIGHT PLAN' page 6 above.

 

TRANSCRIPT
PAGE 9

Corresponds to 'FLIGHT PLAN' page 5 above.

 

 

The 'FLIGHT PLAN' is rather lengthy. Since this is just a hobby and not my full time job, I will leave it up to you to do an in depth review/comparison of the above pages. There are also some other very interesting pages in the 'FLIGHT PLAN', especially in regards to the EVA's, that I may add to this post at a later date. But for now, that's all folks!

Apollo 7 Vintage Manual 'Recovery Requirements Apollo 7 (AS-205/101)' Dated August 29, 1968

 

Here is my vintage 'Recovery Requirements Apollo 7 (AS-205/101)' which I purchased in an online auction for a very reasonable price. And boy am I glad I did. I got this item at its' offered price. It fits what I love to buy in every respect. It is obviously used, worn, and has notations on the cover which were probably made by someone during the heyday of the manned space program in the sixties. The 'REIM' printed on the cover may be Milton Reim, a Nasa Public Affairs Officer during that time, which would also fit in with the 'QUERY DESK' notation. It is dated August 29, 1968. Apollo 7 launched on October 11, 1968 with Astronauts Wally Schirra, Walt Cunningham, and Donn Eisele. This was the first manned Apollo mission after the Apollo 1 fire that killed Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee.

When I buy these types of items, sometimes I find, what are to me, priceless little nuggets in them. That is what happened with this item. When I received the item I opened it up and found the two foldouts shown below.  As can be seen, Cunningham signed both of them for me at Spacefest. He has one of the best signatures of all the astronauts as far as I'm concerned. These would be ideal for framing!

 

'APOLLO 7 LAUNCH ABORT AREAS AND
RECOMMENDED FORCE DEPLOYMENT'

 

 

'APOLLO 7 RECOVERY ZONES, CONTINGENCY AREA AND RECOMMENDED AIRCRAFT STAGING AREAS'

 

 

There were a couple of other pages in this item I also found interesting as shown below.

 

'Figure A2- Apollo 7 spacecraft configuration at launch'

 

 

'Figure 2-1 - Apollo 7 launch and deorbit events'

 

Apollo 15 Dave Scotts' (?) 'LM Timeline Book-Basic' Dated April 5, 1971

  

Here is my 'Apollo 15 LM Timeline Book-Basic' dated April 5, 1971 purported to have belonged to Apollo 15 Astronaut Dave Scott. Below that is the COA which accompanied the item. The COA describes this item as 'Dave Scott's Apollo 15 LM Timeline Book'. It is signed by Scott in black sharpie and  someone (Scott?) also printed his name in the upper right corner. Even though the COA attributes ownership to Scott, I am a little doubtful that the auction house can directly connect this to Scott based solely upon this info. I actually showed this item to Scott at Spacefest and he was reluctant to verify that this item ever belonged to him or that he printed his name in the upper right corner! Thanks Dave! Even if no direct link other than the COA can be made to Scott, it is still a very nice vintage item. Look below to see how I tried to compare the printed name on this item with a known printed sample made by Scott.

 

 

 COA

 

I obtained the below copy of printed names for many of the Apollo astronauts via an e-mail. It contains a known Scott printing of his last name. Bear in mind there is probably a multi year gap between the printing on the Book and the printing on the below page. Below this list is the enlarged printed name from my LM Timeline Book for comparison.

 

 

Comparing the two, I do see some similarities. In both, the 'S' is much larger than the 'co'. The 'T's' in both are printed as capitals and not in the lower case 't'. And both 'T's" are crossed almost as one single line and not two separate crossings. I would like to obtain additional examples of Scott's known printing in order to further compare the printing.

 

 

Here is the same item as it was offered for sale on Live Auctioneers in May 2003. The description states: 'From the personal collection of and signed on the cover in black ink by Astronaut David Scott. Ex the David Scott Collection'. I purchased the item in 2011 so this item may have passed through numerous collectors since 2003.

 

 

 

Here is the picture of the item from the 'Live Auctioneers' 2003 web page. 

 

Here is a similar type book (Revision B) offered for sale in the Lunar Legacies June 2012 auction. The item is described as 'Apollo 15 Astronaut Dave Scott's personal copy of the Apollo 15 LM Timeline Book'. Below that is an enlarged picture of the item. You can see from the picture of this item that Scotts' name as printed is identical to the printed name on my book. One thing is for certain, the same person printed Scott's name on both these books. 

 

Here are a couple of other pictures of Apollo 15/Apollo manuals which show Scotts' name printed on them in the same style. You be the judge. Same person printed all or not? Personally, I used to always print my name on my school books to identify them. All of the below items were listed for sale on Live Auctioneers in May/November 2003. All were described as 'Ex: the David Scott Collection'. 

 

 

 

Here are some interesting pages from this my item.

PAGE 1

 UNDOCK & SEPARATION TO REV 12 LS TCA

 

PAGE 2 

REV 12 LS TCA TO AGS ACTIVATION

 

PAGE 18

Describes post docking activities after returning
to the CSM from the moon.

The 'LM TO CSM TRANSFER LIST' has some interesting items on it. 

 

PAGE 39 

H-3 Mission Relative Reference Trajectory

 TPF REL TRAJ
NOM COEL RNDZ

 

PAGE 40

H-3 Mission Relative Reference Trajectory

REL TRAJ
DIRECT ASCENT

 

Apollo 9 Astronaut Conversations

 

Think about being cooped up with two other people for ten days in a space no bigger than a small walk in closet. Then think about all the personal hygiene you normally do each day/night and multiply that by three. You better have a sense of humor (or develop one fast), and the patience of Job, because you will need both to last for ten days in that cramped environment without alienating those other two people. While reviewing Apollo 9 transcripts for the 'Apollo 9 Flown Checklist for Docking and Post Docking Leading to LM Jettison' in a previous post, I came across some conversations between these heroes which demonstrated their sense of humor, and which provided a glimpse into how they dealt with some basic biological functions. They took place on day one and day six of the mission.

 

 

  

 

 

Gemini V Vintage Manual 'Operations Handbook, Spacecraft 5, Original, Section II, Controls and Displays' Dated June 25, 1965

 

This is typical of the type of item I love to collect. A bit rough around the edges and obviously used at the time, with 'R M McCafferty' printed in the upper right corner. It came in a three ring binder which had seen better days, but has 'RDMc' printed on it as shown in the picture below. As can be seen here, the manual is dated June 25th, 1965 and is divided into the following tabbed sections: 2.1 SEQUENTIAL, 2.2 ELECTRICAL, 2.3 ENVIRONMENTAL,
2.4 CONTROL, 2.5 NAVIGATION, 2.6 COMMUNICATIONS, 2.7 INSTRUMENTATION, 2.8 MISCELLANEOUS, 2.9 GLV-MDS, INDEX. 

 

 

Gemini 5, manned by Astronauts Gordon Cooper and Pete Conrad, was the third Earth-orbiting spacecraft of the Gemini Program. It launched on August 21st, 1965. The flight was designed to last eight days and test rendezvous procedures. The major objectives of this mission were to demonstrate a long-duration manned flight, evaluate the effects of long periods of weightlessness on astronauts, and test rendezvous capabilities and maneuvers using a rendezvous evaluation pod. Secondary objectives included demonstration of all phases of guidance and control systems to support rendezvous and controlled reentry guidance, to evaluate the fuel cell power system and rendezvous radar, to test the capability of either astronaut to maneuver the spacecraft in orbit to close proximity with another object, and to conduct 17 experiments.

 

This is the Foreword. Unfortunately I do not have the distribution list.

 

 

Page 2.3.4 which describes what is what on the spacesuit.

 

 

Foldout (Page 7).
What the astronauts were looking at inside the spacecraft.

 

My favorite foldout!
'Communication and Instrumentation Mission Profile'

 

 

Spacecraft 5's 'Computer Block Diagram'

 

 

'STOWAGE LIST NOTES'
  'The following items are stowed in the spacecraft' 

 

 

Parachute Landing System

 

McCafferty Pictures

In the picture below, Gus Grissom (right) and John Young (left), prime crew for the Gemini 3 mission, are shown inspecting the inside of a Gemini spacecraft at the Mission Control Center at Cape Kennedy, Florida along with a  subject identified as 'Riley McCafferty'. Based upon the research I have done I believe this is the person whose name is printed on both the manual and the binder. A google search shows a 'Riley D. McCafferty' at NASA  during this same period. As you can see on the manual, the middle initial there is 'M' not 'D', but on the binder the middle initial is 'D' not 'M'. I think there must have been a misprint by someone when the name was printed on the manual cover.

  

Below is another picture of McCafferty, this time with McDivitt,
Schweickart, Bean, Worden, and Scott. This picture
was taken shortly before the launch of Apollo 9.
McCafferty was 'Chief of Flight Crew Operations MSC' at the time of this picture. 

 

 

Gemini V Flown Page 'Gemini V Experimental Procedure Book'

 

Here is my flown page from the 'Gemini V Experimental Procedure Book'. Gordon Cooper was the Command Pilot and Pete Conrad was the Pilot on Gemini V. It was an eight day mission. The backup to Cooper was Neil Armstrong and the backup for Conrad was Elliott See. It looks like the astronauts themselves may have put this together! The 'UHF' tab is attached to this page with a piece of clear tape. It also appears that someone punched two sets of holes on the left side as can be seen in the pictures. The dark shaded  area on the left side is tape. This page, under number '3', directs the  'PILOT' (Conrad) to 'SWITCH FROM THE RNTY ANTENNA TO THE ADPT ANTENNA EVERY 20 SECONDS' and to 'REPORT EACH ANTENNA SWITCHING'. It also references 'TESTS NO'S 3 & 4' and 'TEST NO. 5'/'SEA LAB II COMM'. There are also transcript/mission report pages below that document the conversations of the astronauts while they were performing these tests/tasks.

 

 FRONT

BACK

 

Here is the photocopied LOA for the 
'Gemini V Experimental Procedure Book'
which this page came from.  

 

The below 'MISSION COMMENTARY TRANSCRIPT" pages dated 8/23/65, document Conrads' conversations as he switches between the 'RNTY ANTENNA' (reentry) and 'ADPT ANTENNA' (adapter) as directed by the above procedure page. There is some good humored conversation between Astronaut Jim McDivitt (acting as 'Houston Cap Com'), Conrad, and Cooper during this antenna switching in which McDivitt complains that Conrad talks a lot. In response, Conrad makes up a song and sings it to McDivitt.

The below 'MISSION COMMENTARY TRANSCRIPT' pages dated 8/29/65, document the conversation between Cooper and fellow astronaut Scott Carpenter while Carpenter is 200 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California in SEA LAB as per 'TEST NO. 5'/'SEA LAB II COMM' in the procedure page. Carpenter tells Cooper he is 'transmitting from 200 feet down off La Jolla' (CA). As the transcript shows, See is the lead in for the conversation between the crew of Gemini V and Carpenter in SEA LAB. In 1966, See would die in a plane crash in the St. Louis area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the cover page of the
'GEMINI PROGRAM MISSION REPORT' for
'GEMINI V', where pages 5-10 and 5-11 below came from.   

 

Page 5-10 below describes the antenna switching test in more detail. The reason for switching between the UHF reentry antenna and the adapter-mounted UHF antenna at twenty second intervals was to see which 'was more suitable for use in certain orbital conditions such as drifting flight or low elevation-angle station passes'.

 

Page 5-11 below references UHF tests 3 and 4 as per the
above procedure page.

 The below picture shows Gemini V lifting off. The procedure page in my possession was actually in that capsule with those brave astronauts at that exact time. It still amazes me when I think about it. Now this procedure book page is in my home! Thank God that America had (and still has) brave men like the ones that were inside that capsule so many years ago. 

 

 

The below is a picture of Conrad and Cooper after splashdown of Gemini V. They just look like a couple of  guys I would have loved to have had a beer with! A couple of true American heroes. From Cooper and Conrad to Pelosi and Obama in less than a generation! Definitely not a move in the right direction for the future of not only the space program, but also the nation.