Click on the image to enlarge | From the estate of Dr. D. Owen Coons, Chief of NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center Medical Office. We are offering various bound reports having to do with the U.S. manned space program of the 1960s, many of which are in regard to medical aspects of space flight, and are very technical in nature. First Day of Issue "Accomplishments in Space" Stamp & Envelope, Signed by astronaut Tom Stafford, date-stamped 9-29-67. In excellent condition with no tears or creases, light overall aging. TOM STAFFORD (b. 1930) piloted Gemini VI during the first rendezvous in space, and helped develop techniques to prove the basic theory and practicality of a space rendezvous. In June 1966 he commanded Gemini IX with Eugene Cernan due to the deaths of prime crew members Charlie Bassett and Elliot See. He performed a demonstration of an early rendezvous that would be used in Apollo 10: the first optical rendezvous; and a lunar orbit abort rendezvous. He currently holds the record for the briefest duration between spaceflights, at 5 months 19 days. Stafford was commander of Apollo 10 in May 1969, which included the first flight of the lunar module during a Moon orbit, the first rendezvous while in the Moon environment, and the entire lunar landing mission except for the actual landing. He also did reconnaissance and evaluation of future landing sites for Apollo 11. Stafford and his crewmates, John Young and Gene Cernan, were cited in the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest speed ever attained by man: during Apollo 10's return from the moon, the spacecraft reached 24,791 statute miles per hour. |
