Lot 655
American Space Program and the Men of Science & Discovery That Helped Us Get There; John Van Allen, William Pickering, Fred Whipple & More. Scarce collection of Nine (9) autographs by men whose engineering, science, research and discovery all contributed to the space program. 1.) Signed cover by both John Van Allen (Van Allen Belt) and William Pickering. Pickering pulled in Van Allen and Werner Von Braun and in 1958 Explorer 1 was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on January 31, 1958, less than four months after Sputnik. It stayed orbiting the earth for the next 10 years. 2.) Autograph letter signed and signed photo by Fred Whipple (1906-2004) American astrophysicist who for 70 years worked at Harvard University Observatory and whose comet and asteroid discoveries are all but unequaled. 3.) Harold Zweigbaum, NASA Lifetime Achievement Award winner in 2008. Zweigbaum, among other achievements, was general manager of the commercial satellite processing firm Astrotech during its early days and instrumental in the successful mission of Viking 1 on Mars. 4.) Ferenc Pavlics is a Hungarian-born American mechanical engineer who helped develop the Apollo Lunar rover. He has signed two 5 x 7 images, one in black and white, the other in color from Apollo 15. 6.) Note by Video Engineer of Lunar Orbiter Arthur J. Cosgrove explaining video conversion systems and signed below an artist's concept photo. 7.) And an unusual addition, Gahan Wilson (1930-2019) author and beloved illustrator whose cartoons were admired by millions of fans. He has signed a remarkably compelling 8 x 10 photo of an astronaut seemingly alone on the lunar surface. A quick search on the internet reveals how often space factored into his humor. Estimated Value $250 - UP
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| Realized $144 |
