APOLLO - SOYUZ CREW - AUTOGRAPHED INSCRIBED PHOTOGRAPH CO-SIGNED BY: LT. GENERAL THOMAS P. STAFFORD, MAJOR DONALD "DEKE" SLAYTON, VANCE BRAND - HFSID 309701

APOLLO-SOYEZ CREW: DONALD SLAYTON, THOMAS P. STAFFORD and VANCE D. BRAND
Three NASA astronauts from the historic Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the first American-Russian joint flight, pen their names on this 14x11 image
Inscribed Photograph signed: "To Ben/ with Very Best Wishes --", "Donald Slayton" and "Vance Brand" all in black ink. Color, 9½x7. Affixed to a 14x11 mount (2 surfaces). A veteran test pilot, VANCE D. BRAND (b.1931) was the Apollo command module pilot on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (1975) and commander of space shuttle missions STS-5 (Columbia, 1982), STS-41B (Challenger, 1984) and STS-35 (Columbia, 1990). He is Director of Plans for the National Aerospace Plane for NASA. DONALD K. "DEKE" SLAYTON (1924-1993), one of the seven original Project Mercury astronauts, was grounded during training due to an irregular heartbeat and did not make a space flight until the mid-1970s. While he was grounded, Slayton served as Coordinator of Astronaut Activities (1962-1963) before resigning from the U.S. Air Force (he was a veteran WWII bomber pilot) to become Director of Flight Crew Operations (in these positions, Slayton was involved in choosing the crews for nearly all the Gemini and Apollo missions). Following a comprehensive review of his medical status, Slayton was certified eligible for manned space flights in March 1972, and the 51-year-old made his first and only trip into space as the Apollo docking module pilot of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) mission (which also included American crew members Thomas Stafford and Vance Brand) in the first joint U.S.-U.S.S.R. joint space venture (July 15-24, 1975). After his 217 hour and 28 minute journey into space, Slayton became Manager for Approach and Landing Test Project (1975-1977) before serving as Manager for Orbital Flight Test until his retirement from NASA in 1982. In his later positions, Slayton directed a number of operations for NASA's space shuttle program. THOMAS P. STAFFORD (1930-2024) has logged 507 hours and 43 minutes in space flight and wears the Air Force Command Pilot Astronaut Wings. He has flown over 110 different types of aircraft and has over 7,100 flying hours. Stafford was cited in the Guinness Book of World Records for achieving the highest speed ever attained by man. The feat occurred during Apollo 10's reentry when the spacecraft reached 28,547 statute miles per hour, thus setting the world's all-time speed record. Stafford was promoted to Three-Star Lieutenant General on March 15, 1978. Toned on mounting. Corners lightly worn on mounting. Otherwise, fine condition.