SkyMan is flying again. (Caution, Lots of big pix).

[SkyMan]

So, what do Snoopy, fabric, bread and a gold coin all have in common? Yup, you guessed it, I just bought some more space flown items.

 

Starting it off, Snoopy was both the mascot of the astronaut corp, AND was the name given to the Lunar Module (LM) of Apollo 10. Apollo 10 was the dress rehearsal flight for Apollo 11, the first landing on the Moon. Apollo 10 went through all the maneuvers of Apollo 11 (bar the landing), and the LM came within 50,000 feet of the lunar surface. Here's the Snoopy pin I just got.

 

 

 

Of course, a practice flight is all very nice and good, but actually landing on the Moon is even better. The 2nd Moon landing was done by Apollo 12 in the Sea of Storms. Here is a flown patch of the mission.

 

 

Now, if you are going to be on a spacecraft for more than a week you will certainly want to eat. Here's some bread that was flown on the mission.

 

 

 

Here's a partial mosaic of the landing site...

 

 

Of course, to get to the Moon there were many steps that were needed to be taken along the way. One of these was to "walk" in space. The Soviet astronauts were first to take this step, but the US followed very soon thereafter with a (twice as long) spacewalk by Ed White in 1965 from Gemini 4. His crewmate was Jim McDivitt. McDivitt brought with him a gold $2.50 Liberty on the flight. To the best of my knowledge this was the ONLY flown GOLD coin from the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo era.

 

I'm not sure which astronaut is first in this pic, but his PPK (his personal items carrying kit, e.g. where he would store the gold coin) is the item that is just below his left knee.

 

 

Here White is in the foreground and McDivitt is in the background just prior to getting in the capsule. You can just see McDivitt's PPK below his knee. The coin would have been in there.

 

 

The launch.

 

 

Here's what makes the flight so special...

 

 

 

 

Here's the coin...

 

 

 

[Coindude]

Pretty sweet stuff there Skyman!

[robec1347]

Congratulations Sy on the acquisition of some more incredible items from historical events. I envy you on your ownership. You're a true SkyMan.

[PCcoins]

Sy, I thought you knew that the whole moon landing was produced in a Hollywood basement?

 

But seriously, that stuff is seriously cool! Some great pieces of history you got there. (thumbs u

[fishfinder]

..great post SkyMan

[cpm9ball]

That is cool, Sky, but I wonder why NGC didn't assign a grade for the coin. Do you think it was BB'ed due to "Altered States" ?

 

Chris

[rexcat]

That is one of the coolest collections I seen in at long time Sy. Great stuff without the coin which is just plain fantastic!

 

Thanks for shown. (thumbs u

[bsshog40]

That's pretty awesome history and memorabilia there Sy! Congrats on that!!!

[kryptonitecomics]

Great post Sy......I am very interested in this sort of stuff as my grandfather was a college professor and was a big fan of the space program.

[WinstonWare]

Great post & great collectables

 

I love that "The Right Stuff" movie!

[SkyMan]

Thank you everyone for all the nice comments!!! I just find it really FUN to get stuff like this.

 

That is cool, Sky, but I wonder why NGC didn't assign a grade for the coin...

 

My best guess is that a grade more or less pigeon holes a coin for a price range. Given that you are not per se buying the condition here, but rather the history associated with the coin, I guess NGC didn't want to put it into a given grade/price range. I have not seen the coin yet, so I have no idea what the grade is, but most of the numismatic material I've seen that has been flown has been well below circulated in grade, so, at least from the images, this coin is in FAR better condition than most of the stuff I've seen.

[C Jay Wilson-migration]

Excellent pictures, excellent post.

 

The Mercury astronauts would take up dimes and hand them out as souvenirs. I was under the impression that they were all Mercury dimes, since that was what they were calling them. I found the following link on e-bay, which is an altered 1961 Franklin. Does anyone know if there are actual Mercury dimes that made the flight?

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/1961-Mercury-Dime-Flown-Onboard-Liberty-Bell-7-(MR-4)_W0QQitemZ230298101070QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20081005?IMSfp=TL081005106004r21417

 

[rrantique]

Great Stuff Sy, Congrats.

[RI AL]

Let me add my congratulations to the list! Really REALLY neat, historic stuff!!!

 

 

[Mogulman-migration]

Awesome collectibles, SkyMan!!! I love the space program myself. Grew up watching the Space Race myself.

[HiHoAudio]

Amazing unique collection SkyMan.

[Dene]

Sy, that has to be the best collection of historical objects that I have ever seen. Real, real nice.

[FILTHYHOARD]

Just don't put the toasted bread cubes in your chicken caesar salad Sy.