The Beginning... Project Mercury

This is a prop used in the opening scene of the HBO series "From the Earth to the Moon." I believe it was John Glenn that placed a card like this in Alan Shepard's capsule right before his flight to relieve some of the tension that must have been incredibly high at that moment. The astronauts in the early space program were intense, competitive, handball players.

Don't forget to...

'Remove Before Flight' banner from Project Mercury. Flag bears the Convair-Astronautics / General Dynamics metal tag. This banner is from the fuel valve lock assembly. Unit is complete with cable, lock pin, aluminum I.D. plate and banner. Measures: 36" X 3" This canvas piece was wrapped around the Mercury capsule upon the completion of it's construction and removed immediately prior to flight.

Freedom 7 pin

"This pin is unobtainable commercially. Recipients rather are honored guests and/or distinguished visitors to Virginia Beach. Only through the expressed authority of the City Council of Virginia Beach are these pins presented."

A spike... that was removed from the railroad... that carried the rocket... that first took Alan Shepard into space.

A spike from the railroad track that transported the Freedom 7 rocket to Launch Complex 5/6 for the first suborbital space flight by Alan B. Shepard Jr., on 5 of May, 1961. This railway was also used to move the gantry away from the launch pad prior to lift off. Launch Complex 5/6, with it's support railroad, was also the site of the launch of Explorer 1, America's first satellite.

A Pewter Liberty Bell 7

This is a limited edition pewter capsule made for the Discovery Channel to commemorate the raising of the "Liberty Bell" from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.

Liberty Bell 7 artifact

This is a segment of the landing bag assembly from the Liberty Bell 7 spacecraft. This piece has not only has been into space along with America's second astronaut, but it has also rested on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean for 37 years before being salvaged.

A piece of John Glenn's Atlas rocket

A recovered fragment of the booster that carried John Glenn into orbit. This is the only one of these that I've ever seen. It is from Deke Slayton's collection.

A piece of Friendship 7... a moment in history

This is the bolt and washer that broke in the process of securing the hatch to John Glenn's capsule, Friendship 7. On February 13, 1962, the world held it's collective breath anxiously awaiting for the first American to orbit the Earth while technicians feverishly worked to replace a single hatch bolt that had broken off and delayed the flight for 22 minutes. Guenter Wendt, the Pad Leader, placed this piece of history into his pocket and later preserved it in lucite.
Read the whole story in "The Unbroken Chain" by Guenter Wendt and Russell Still.

And the matching piece...

This is the plate nut removed from Friendship 7 that delayed the launching of America's first man into orbit. The hatch had to be removed and this plate nut was then drilled out and replaced. It's replacement is still attached to the capsule on display in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

Launch preparations for Friendship 7

Ed Hengeveld has captured the event in this painting.

Nothing is more important than Friendship

Friendship 7 medallion... vintage.

Friendship 7 flight map

This is one section of a folded world map showing the path of John Glenn's three orbit flight around the Earth.

A piece of John Glenn's spacesuit

This is a section of the umbilical hose from John Glenn's spacesuit. This hose segment was originally given to Tom Morley by John Glenn after his famous flight of becoming the first American to orbit of the Earth. Morley was a radio broadcaster who was assigned to cover the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo flights and developed many friendships among the early space pioneers.

McDonnell Project Mercury stamp

These lucites were made for, and presented to, McDonnell employees who worked on the Friendship 7 space capsule, after John Glenn's successful mission.

The Mercury Capsule

"You don't get in this-you put it on!" Wally Schirra

A gift from JFK

A fountain pen given to Gordon Cooper by President Kennedy at the White House.

Mercury hand railing

A small section removed from the gantry... many a historical figure had held onto this railing as they walked to our nation's early spacecrafts.

Project Gemini

From the Glenn L. Martin Space Division comes this very early conceptual print & painting of a Gemini Spacecraft going into orbit after lifting off from the Earth. This is a beauty, and is a base print, that has been highlighted by a Martin Company illustrator artist with painted details. This was an in-house item, and not meant for public use, or ownership.

Pad 19

This a huge bolt that was removed from the Pad 19 launch tower. Pad 19 was the launch site of all the Gemini missions. The bolt is forever suspended in aged, scratched, and yellowed lucite. It's obviously been viewed and handled a great deal. It's incredible.

The White Room

This is a little piece of tubing that was removed from the Pad 19 White Room before it's demise. Pad 19 was the location of the Project Gemini launches. Notice the remaining white patches of paint.

Gemini IV and LBJ

This medallion was presented to Commander Jim McDivitt by President Lyndon Johnson after the successful flight of Gemini IV... which is most noted for being the first US mission in which a spacewalk occurred.

"Almost flew" on GT-4

A great gag presentation, from the collection of Jim McDivitt, poking fun at flown items.

The first rendezvous

I think it's great that the first rendezvous in space was also one of the missions with the greatest photography.

Almost the first docking!

If these two spacecrafts had gotten any closer they would have touched.

Gemini 7 bolt

A small flown bolt from the Gemini 7 spacecraft.

Neil Armstrong's first flight

Neil Armstrong commanded one other mission besides Apollo 11. He and Dave Scott flew the Gemini VIII flight where the first space docking occurred. The flight nearly ended in tragedy when a thruster stuck open, spinning the craft at one revolution per second. Dave Scott told me that he was thankful that he flew with Armstrong as he was calm throughout the incident and handled this nearly fatal situation better that anyone else could have.