Apollo Era NASA!!

[kclj520]

Hey all,

I have a confession to make: I have been space crazy all my life! I have collected these items for many years now, and have also collected items for my children as well (though they dont have the same interest as I do, they still enjoy!!)

Prior to Apollo, Col. Joe Kittinger flew a hot air balloon to the stratosphere, and with his space suit and parachute, jumped! He was the first man in space:




The Apollo era of NASA is my favorite, and thankfully, there are still some great signers around!

First, I have to start with Gene Kranz, "Flight"

Gene was there the whole time, and he signed the Earthrise photo from Apollo 8, which is my favorite space photo!

 

[kclj520]

Gotta back up to Apollo 7, Walt Cunningham was on the 3 man crew and signed these two 1969 Man on the Moon cards!

 

[kclj520]

I went yard sale shopping with my daughter, and found a copy of the STL Globe Democrat from the Apollo 11 splashdown! For a buck, we got some cool artwork!!





John Wolfram and Clancy Hatleberg are 2 Navy SEALS who pulled the Apollo 11 capsule and Neil, Buzz, and Mike out of the ocean!


I also happened upon this awesome commemorative glass for 9 bucks! Well worth it!!

 

[kclj520]

Apollo 13's Fed Haise was a favorite of mine, I asked him to sign one custom and keep 3, and he signed all 4, personalizing to my 3 children!!


Jack Lousma was the CAPCOM, the astronaut who was the capsule communicator, talking to the astronauts in space and helping bring them home!


Two other Mission Control legends were John Aaron and Ed Fendell. Both played major roles during Apollo 13, as well as the rest of the Apollo missions!

 

[kclj520]

Following Apollo was Skylab in the mid-70s, and then the Space Shuttle program. Jack Lousma would have flown on Apollo 20, but with the cancellation of 18, 19, and 20, he flew on Skylab and on the 3rd Shuttle mission:



I did an Apollo 20 card for Col. Lousma, as he would have been Commander of that mission!

After Skylab came the Shuttle program, known as STS (Shuttle Transport Service) which gave rise to the International Space Station and much of the exploration and understanding of space we have now!

Mike Foreman, Hoot Gibson, Rhea Seddon, and Steve Bowen are also Shuttle era astronauts, great signers, and even better people!



Scott Altman is also a fantastic guy, he went to U of I, and also flew the stunt plane scenes in the original Top Gun!

 

[PAVI39]

These are some cool pieces and some nice background history.

 

[kclj520]

These are some cool pieces and some nice background history.

Thanks so much @PAVI39 , so kind of you to say! This has been a longtime collection, probably the longest theme I have ever followed, and have really enjoyed it! The kind responses from the astronauts and mission control specialists has made it totally worthwhile!

Blessings,

Kevin

 

[kclj520]

So I came across a really nice shadowbox, and this is what I ended up with, wanted to get some of these items displayed a little more nicely!!

 

[Mechjo16]

Pretty cool stuff! My daughter loves space. I’ve been picking up a few things here and there. I took her to the Armstrong space museum over the summer and learned some new things myself.

I had no idea the space craft was second from running out of fuel and crashing into the moon.

 

[kclj520]

Pretty cool stuff! My daughter loves space. I’ve been picking up a few things here and there. I took her to the Armstrong space museum over the summer and learned some new things myself.

I had no idea the space craft was second from running out of fuel and crashing into the moon.

@Mechjo16

Oh my gosh that was so intense! Awesome that you got to go to the museum with your daughter, it looks incredible!

Not sure if you have seen the documentary movie Apollo 11, but it is all the footage remastered and with captions explaining what is going on, and it shows how critically low on fuel they were, and its amazing how calm everyone was during these most intense moments!