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...

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...

APOLLO 11: NEIL ARMSTRONG and MICHAEL COLLINS Framed 26x26 display featuring signed space suit fabric with the mission patch Ephemera signed: "Neil Armstrong", "Michael Collins", 6x6 strip of space suit fabric bearing 3¼-diameter Apollo 11 mission patch. The fabric was originally signed by the third astronaut, Buzz Aldrin, but Aldrin's signature has faded and is now almost invisible. The signed fabric is matted and framed to an overall size of 26x26 with the following items: 1) backdrop photo of lunar landscape with Earth above the horizon, and separate photo cutout of space-suited figure with lunar lander (LEM) reflected in the faceplate; 2) set of 3 inset, unsigned photos (each color, 3x2½) of the astronauts Armstrong, Collins and Buzz Aldrin; and 3) metallic plaque imprinted with caption: "Apollo 11 - Patch printed on genuine space suit material. Apollo 11 crew Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins. The historic Apollo 11 spaceflight, the fifth manned flight in the Apollo series, took human beings to the surface of the moon for the first time. Launched from the Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969, the spacecraft entered lunar orbit on July 19. read more...

BUZZ ALDRIN He signs a flag which journeyed with him into space on the Gemini XII mission. Flag signed: "Buzz Aldrin, Flown on Gemini XII16 ½ x11. Signed on white stripe. Aldrin, a 1951 West Point graduate, had flown 66 missions in Korea, winning the Distinguished Flying Cross. He flew F-100s in Germany before persuading the Air Force to send him to M.I.T. for a doctorate. Aldrin's first space voyage was on Gemini XII, along with James Lovell (of later Apollo XIII fame). The mission included a successful manual rendezvous with an Aegina target vehicle and three space walks (EVAs) by Aldrin. These tethered trips outside the spacecraft, totaling 5½ hours, proved that astronaut's could perform successfully outside their spacecraft for long periods. During the Apollo 11 mission, Aldrin piloted the Lunar Excursion Module, Eagle, and became the second man to walk on the Moon (July 20, 1969). The Gemini XII capsule, which carried the flag signed here, is now on display at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. Slight bleeding of  ink. Fading of blue at right edge between two top stars. read more...

OMAR BRADLEY A bound copy of his Memorial Day Address (1948), inscribed and signed to his longtime secretary, Mary Pitcairn, by America's last five-star general Speech inscribed and signed: "To Miss Mary Pitcairn/With appreciation for/your loyal and/untiring assistance/Omar N. Bradley", 5p, 6x9. Leather-bound, soft cover copy of his Memorial Day Address, titled "That We Might Learn to Live as Bravely as They Died", Longmeadow, Massachusetts, 1948. Inscribed and signed on third free end page. Omar N. Bradley (1893-1981), a corps commander in North Africa and Sicily (1943), commanded of the U.S. First Army, which landed at Utah and Omaha beaches, Normandy, on D-Day, June 6, 1944. In August 1944, he became the Commander of the 12th Army Group, the largest force ever commanded on the field. He headed the new Veterans Administration (1945-1948). On September 20, 1950, Bradley was promoted to Five-Star General of the Army, and would be the last surviving general of 5-star rank. From 1950 to 1953, he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Lacking the arrogance and ostentation of some other generals, Bradley became known as "the soldier's general. read more...

X-15 PILOTS A piece of space flight history, this 11x14 photograph of the powerful X-15 has been signed by eight of it's twelve pilots; Peter Knight, Milt Thompson, Bob White, Joe Engle, Bill Dana, Scott Crossfield, and first man on the moon Neil Armstrong! Photograph signed: "Peter Knight", "Milt Thompson", "Bob White", "Neil Armstrong", "Joe Engle", "Bill Dana", "Scott Crossfield", 11x14. The X-15 was an experimental rocket-powered aircraft operated by the US Air Force and NASA as part of the X-plane series. The X-15 set a large list of records, including 13 different flights that exceeded the altitude of 50 miles, making the 8 flight pilots qualified for USAF astronaut status. There were a total of 12 pilots for the powerful aircraft, including NEIL ARMSTRONG (altitude 39.2 miles), SCOTT CROSSFIELD (altitude 15.3 miles), BILL DANA (altitude 58.1 miles), JOE ENGLE (altitude 53.1 miles), PETE KNIGHT (altitude 53.1 miles), MILT THOMPSON (altitude 40.5 miles), and BOB WHITE (altitude 59.6 miles). read more...