OT: SkyMan is SkyHigh (CAUTION, BIG pics).

[SkyMan]

While this has zero to do with coins, it does have to do with historically interesting stuff. I'm a happy camper this evening. There was another auction for space related items today and I was lucky enough to pick up 6 lots. Here are 3 of them that I think are particularly special.

 

Deke Slayton was one of the original 7 US astronauts, oftentimes called the Mercury 7. Unfortunately for him, the doctors discovered a heart murmer and grounded him before he could fly. He was well respected and eventually became the "Head Honcho" astronaut, deciding which of the new applicants would get accepted to NASA as astronauts and which astronauts would fly which missions. Because of this he was intimately connected with ALL the US manned space missions for the first ~20-25 years of NASA. Eventually, when more became known about the affects of spaceflight, the doctors relented and he was able to fly on the Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975.

 

His widow decided recently to disperse a variety of his collection. Today I was able to pick up two items of his. In 2008 we forget how far behind the Soviet Union the US was in the Space Race in the late 1950's and early 1960's. Nothing in the US Space Program seemed to be working properly. The first Slayton item I picked up was a cartoon given to Slayton done circa 1960. (It is15.5" x 12.5"). It shows the Mercury 7 astronauts as old men, with newspapers scattered around "talking" about different delays in the program. The cool thing about this item is not only does it show the feelings of the times, but all 7 Mercury astronauts signed one of the cartoon characters so that it "became" him.

 

 

The second item I got was Slayton's "Turtle Club" pins.

 

 

For those of you that don't know what the turtle club was/is take a look at (particularly the section titled "Historical References"):

 

Turtle Club

 

The third item displayed here was handmade by the wives of the earliest Soviet Cosmonauts. It is in the tradition of Soviet political broadsides. It was designed to be mounted or glued to a wall to spread the information about a special occassion, although obviously this one was kept by one of the wives. (It is 13" x 18").

 

In this case the special occassion was the tenth anniversary (1967) of the launch of Sputnik 1. What makes this literally out of this world is that around the margins the wive's husbands (and in one case, the husband's wife) signed the item. There are signatures from the first 17 Soviet cosmonauts including Gagarin (the first man in space), Tereshkova (the first woman in space), and Leonov (the first man to "walk" in space). FWIW, the signature on the upper right is Gagarin's.

 

[bajablu]

AMAZING and very cool pick ups. Those are musem quality pieces and sounds like they ar ein a deserving home.

 

 

 

I love this type of stuff. This is the stuff that shoud be saved for generations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[EZ_E]

I'm literally in awe, Sy! Amazing! Incredible. Are all three autographs on there of the 3 who died in the Apollo capsule fire?

[coinsarefun]

That is too Cool!!

 

Its true, I think many forget how far we were behind the Russians.

But we prevailed.

 

Nice cartoon. That is what I went to college for but changed my major to Architecture,

now almost 25 years later I still love cartoon art.

Great turtle pins also. You were very lucky to pick up all that.

 

 

Stefanie

[TomB]

That is really great stuff and it has a stronger connection to numismatics with the planned release of the 50th anniversary JPL/NASA commems next year.

[James_OldeTowne]

PM sent.

[SkyMan]

Thanks folks, glad you like the objects.

 

That's cool about your background Stefanie, so, when you doodle, do you make cartoon-like characters?

 

...Are all three autographs on there of the 3 who died in the Apollo capsule fire?

 

Victor, there was only one of the original 7 astronauts that was killed in Apollo 1. That astronaut was Gus Grissom, and his character/autograph is in the cartoon, back row second from left.

[MarkFeld]

While this has zero to do with coins..

Then, regardless of how cool or interesting it might be, it shouldn't be posted here, on the U.S. Coins forum. And including "OT" in the thread title doesn't change that.

[EZ_E]

While this has zero to do with coins..

Then, regardless of how cool or interesting it might be, it shouldn't be posted here, on the U.S. Coins forum. And including "OT" in the thread title doesn't change that.

 

Mark, you must have been one hell of a hall monitor in elementary school. Did you spit polish your tennis shoes, too?

 

[EZ_E]

 

...Are all three autographs on there of the 3 who died in the Apollo capsule fire?

 

Victor, there was only one of the original 7 astronauts that was killed in Apollo 1. That astronaut was Gus Grissom, and his character/autograph is in the cartoon, back row second from left.

 

I notice Gus' sig but couldn't find the others. Now I know why.

 

 

[WoodenJefferson]

OT or not, we can skew sideways for neat memorbilia as such.

 

I can remember seeing black and white photograhs of the selection of the Mercury 7 Astronauts in my grade school Weekly Reader, circa 1959

 

We also listened to John Glenn's historic flight live, via radio on the school PA system.

 

Those original group of guys have inspired untold thousands of others to become all they can be.

 

 

 

 

[physics-fan3.14]

Sy, that is some amazingly cool stuff. Color me jealous. The only thing I've got like that is Fred Haise autographed my Apollo 13 DVD when he came and spoke at my school (I got to have lunch with him, too, with about 10 other people. That was awesome.)

 

We also listened to John Glenn's historic flight live, via radio on the school PA system.

 

I was fortunate enough to see John Glenn's second historic flight take off.

[rrantique]

OT or not, we can skew sideways for neat memorbilia as such.

 

 

Those original group of guys have inspired untold thousands of others to become all they can be.

 

 

 

 

Nice Stuff Sy. (thumbs u

[robec1347]

Those are some ultra cool lots you won Sy. Congratulations on winning the majority of the items you bid on. Those are museum type articles and they bring back memories of a time when the space program was front page news in a good way. This is as close as this generation came to seeing a modern day Columbus.

[jgrinz]

Turtles

[rexcat]

Cool stuff Sy!

 

Congrats on the score!