NEIL ARMSTRONG Two years before his first spaceflight, and five years before he set the first human foot on the moon, Armstrong fills out a flight plan, preparing to pilot a NASA jet from Ohio to Texas. Document signed twice: "N. A. Armstrong", 1 page, 8x12¾. Port Columbus, Naval Air Station [Ohio], 1964 June 25. Department of Defense flight aircraft clearance form. Details filled in by another hand, including mileage, transponder code, and equipment, but Armstrong has penned this notation: "Request radar vector climb on course." Armstrong plans to pilot a T-33 ("Shooting Star") aircraft from Port Columbus to Ellington Air Force Base in Texas, by way of Dayton. The co-pilot is J. F. Stegall, another NASA employee. Civilian Neil Alden Armstrong (1930-2012) had entered the U.S. space program as a senior NASA research pilot in 1962. A fan of aviation from the age of nine, Armstrong had his pilot's license by the age of 16, and, after studying aeronautical engineering at Purdue for two years, went to Pensacola, Florida for Navy flight training. Serving in Korea at the age of 21, Armstrong flew 78 combat missions and won three Air Medals. read more...

CHRISTA McAULIFFE Seven year old Christa Corrigan, who would grow up to be ill-fated "Teacher in Space" Christa McAuliffe, completed and signed with pencil this school worksheet in 1955. Accompanied by NASA photo of McAuliffe and by Challenger mission decals Document signed: "Christa Corrigan/September 29, 1955"" in pencil, 1 page, 8½x11. Elementary school mimeographed worksheet, with answers circled by her in pencil and figures colored by her in crayon. Teacher's check marks in red ink show McAuliffe's successful completion of each part of the worksheet. Accompanied by: Color 8x10 official NASA photograph of McAuliffe in mission uniform and 2 decals, one each of the Challenger-51 mission and of the Teacher in Space project. Sharon Christa McAuliffe (born Carrigan,1948-1986), attended public schools in Framingham, Massachesetts and graduated from Framingham State College. Marrying high school sweetheart Stephen McAuliffe, she taught junior high school in Maryland (1970-1978) and Concord, New Hampshire (1978-1979) and high school in Concord (1980-1985) before being selected (over 113 other semi-finalists) as the primary candidate for the NASA Teacher in Space Project on July 19, 1985. read more...

CHALLENGER STS 51-L Rare collection of all 7 crew members from the tragic accident, framed in the Gallery of History style to 34x24. All except Jarvis have signed on envelopes postmarked the day they died! Comprises: (1) Envelope signed: "Don Scobee 10 Sep 85", "Mike Smith", "Judy Resnick", "Ellison Onizuka" and "Ronald E. McNair", 6½x3½, 37-cent Robert Millikan stamp affixed, postmarked Kennedy Space Center, Florida, January 28, 1986, (2) Card signed: "Greg Jarvis/STS-51D Astronaut", 3½x2 with NASA imprint, (3) Envelope signed: "S. Christa McAuliffe", 6½x3½, two 10-cent Apollo Soyuz and one 2-cent Igor Stravinsky stamps affixed, postmarked Edwards AFB, CA STA., January 28, 1986 and (4) Photograph of the seven, unsigned, color, 10x8. All in fine condition. On January 28, 1986, five astronauts and two civilians lifted off from Kennedy Space Center, thus marking the 25th NASA Shuttle mission and the 10th flight of the orbiter Challenger read more...

CHALLENGER STS-51L CREW: FRANCIS R. "DICK" SCOBEE, MICHAEL J. SMITH, RONALD E. "RON" McNAIR, ELLISON S. "EL" ONIZUKA, JUDITH A. "JUDY" RESNIK, GREG JARVIS and CHRISTA McAULIFFE This official NASA photograph is a crew photo of the ill-fated Challenger mission STS-51L, which exploded in midair on January 28, 1986 and was the deadliest accident in NASA history until the destruction of the Columbia in 2003. This rare photograph contains the signatures of all seven crewmembers of STS-51L, who are shown in flight suits and holding their helmets Printed Photograph Signed in Ink: "Mike Smith", "Dick/ Scobee", "Ron McNair", "El Onizuka", "S. Christa/McAuliffe", "Greg/Jarvis", "Judy/ Resnik". Color, 10x8. Captioned: "Crew of Space Shuttle/ Mission 51-L. This photograph is an official NASA crew photo of the ill-fated Challenger mission STS-51L. read more...

MERCURY 7 ASTRONAUTS A Salute to Project Mercury by America's Original Space Pioneers Comprises: (1) Photograph signed: "Scott Carpenter", "Gordon Cooper", "John Glenn", "Wally Schirra", "Alan Shepard" and "Deke Slayton". B/w, 10x8. Official NASA photo. Fine condition. (2) Commemorative Envelope signed: "Virgil I. Grissom", 6½x3½, honoring Project Mercury, 7-cent U.S. Air Mail stamp affixed, postmarked Port Canaveral, FLA., July 21, 1961. He has also penned: "7:20 EST". Fine condition. GUS GRISSOM signed and revised the facts of his July 21, 1961 "Man Shoot No. 2" on this commemorative cover; during this mission, he manned the Mercury-Redstone 4 Liberty Bell 7 and became the second American in space. The event occurred only two months after the Project Mercury team successfully launched a man into space and safely returned him to Earth. ALAN SHEPARD became the first American hurled into space during his flight aboard Mercury's first manned capsule, the Mercury-Redstone 3 Freedom 7, on May 5, 1961. read more...

CHALLENGER STS-51L: FRANCIS R. "DICK" SCOBEE, MICHAEL J. SMITH, RONALD E. "RON" McNAIR, ELLISON S. "EL" ONIZUKA, JUDITH A. "JUDY" RESNIK, GREG JARVIS and CHRISTA McAULIFFE Official NASA photograph of the crew of the ill-fated Challenger mission STS-51L. Challenger exploded in midair on January 28, 1986, making it the deadliest accident in NASA history until the destruction of the Columbia in 2003. This rare photograph contains the signatures of all seven crewmembers of STS-51L, who are shown in flight suits and holding their helmets. All seven people in this photo perished in the Challenger disaster Inscribed Photograph signed: "Dot - Best Wishes" (unknown hand),"El Onizuka", "S. Christa/McAuliffe", "Greg Jarvis", "Judy/Resnik", "Mike Smith", "Dick/Scobee" and "Ron McNair". read more...

CHARLES A. LINDBERGH "Lucky Lindy" talks about flying Jennies and why he dislikes reunions, ceremonies and dinners. TLS: "Charles", 1p, 8½x11. Germany, 1963 March 19. To Joe. On blue light-weight stationery. In full: "This is an awfully late answer to your January letter. My mail is always hopelessly stacked up, literally, and I have taken taken (sic) some of it abroad with me in the hope of catching up a bit at least with the letters I want most to write. It is really good of you to invite me to the reunion of the 110th Observation Squadron, and I do have a very close feeling toward the Squadron -- I often think of the old days flying 'Jennies' at Lambert Field. But Joe, I think reunions are for those who like them (and may God bless them). To me, reunions are pretty awful; they always detract from qualities of memory which I prefer to leave to the past where I think they belong and have the greatest value. Also, I like to live quietly and to concentrate on my work and interests. I realized, many years ago, that this kind of life was simply not compatible with ceremonies and dinners, for one led to another and there seemed to be no end. read more...

CHALLENGER STS-51L CREW: FRANCIS R. "DICK" SCOBEE, MICHAEL J. SMITH, RONALD E. "RON" McNAIR, ELLISON S. "EL" ONIZUKA, JUDITH A. "JUDY" RESNIK, GREG JARVIS and CHRISTA McAULIFFE The crew signed these First Day Covers, which were postmarked the day they died. Matted and framed in the Gallery of History style to 34x30. Comprises: (1) Commemorative Envelope Signed: "Dick Scobee 17 JUL 85" and "Ronald E. McNair", 6½x3½. The names of astronauts Scobee, McNair, Onizuka, Resnik and Smith have been typed on this cover, but only Scobee and McNair have signed it. Cover postmarked Kennedy Space Center, Florida, January 28, 1986. (2) Commemorative Envelope Signed: "Ellison Onizuka/Shuttle Astronaut" 6½x3½. Cover postmarked Kennedy Space Center, Florida, January 28, 1986. (3) Commemorative Envelope Signed: "Judith A. Resnik" 6½x3½. Cover postmarked Kennedy Space Center, Florida, January 28, 1986. read more...

CHRISTA McAULIFFE Very distinctive color photo inscribed to NASA food specialist Dr. Charles Bourland, who is shown giving her an orientation to "space food." Photograph inscribed and signed: "Dr. Bourland -/Thanks! /S. Christa/McAuliffe". Color, 8x10. SHARON CHRISTA McAULIFFE (1948-1986) taught junior high school in Maryland (1970-1978) and Concord, New Hampshire (1978-1979) and high school in Concord (1980-1985) before being selected as the primary candidate for the NASA Teacher in Space Project on July 19, 1985. She was a payload specialist on Challenger STS-51L which was launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 11:38 AM on January 28, 1986. McAuliffe and her six colleagues were killed when Challenger exploded 73 seconds after launch. DR. CHARLES T. BOURLAND, shown in this photo inscribed to him, researched and designed food for astronauts from the Mercury program to the International Space Station. Here is a shown giving McAuliffe an edible orientation. After retiring from NASA in 2000, Bourland wrote The Astronaut's Cookbook and taught a read more...