posted 04-04-2010 09:18 PM            

By the time Gemini started, I was I was really hooked!! Though I would have loved to have been an astronaut, I thought my chances were pretty slim since most of those chosen were high achievers academically, and my talents were primarily in the arts. (I could draw better than most of my contemporaries, and upon entering high school as a freshman, was immediately placed in the senior art classes.) Though I did fairly well in high school, and was accepted by NYU as pre-med, (my majors were science and art,) I did have an art portfolio that I had put together for a Scholastics competition.

This portfolio fell into the hands of some admissions personnel at Pratt Institute. I was called into the principals' office so that the Dean of Admissions from Pratt could talk to me. I had no idea at the time that they were going to offer me a spot in the upcoming freshman class in the fall. We spoke for about an hour and a half. They reviewed my portfolio, but didn't discuss it. We did, however talk about my interest in spaceflight... for about 45 minutes!!

I wound up going to Pratt and getting my degree in Industrial design. One of my thesis projects was a waste management system for the new Space Transportation System being developed at the time.

Regarding collecting space stuff... I have about 20 to 25 autographed pictures that I've accumulated over the years. During Mercury, Gemini and Apollo, you could write to any astronaut at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston and usually in a few weeks get an autographed picture... for free!!! I've had the pleasure to meet Michael Collins, Alan Shepard, John Glenn, Buzz Aldrin (several times, I live in Montclair, Buzz's hometown), Tom Stafford, Scott Carpenter and Charlie Duke. Oh, also Chuck Yeager at Air and Space in DC.

posted 04-06-2010 11:41 AM               

I have been to about half of the NASA centers. (KSC, Houston - where I did the Level 9 tour which takes you to a whole bunch of places a must do if at Houston - Dryden, Ames and Goddard).

I have meet a few astronauts Jean-Loup Chretien at a Lunch with an Astronaut at KSC and I meet McBride on a band trip which was so cool. I got a photo with him and he signed a book for me. He wrote "David, best wishes, his signature, John A McBride Space shuttle pilot, plus the date and location". Meeting him made it the best band trip I've been on.

I have a few NASA things but not much. I am a huge WWII/Holocaust Studies buff and I plan on going to college to get my associates in American Studies then transfer to another state college to get my Master's in Holocaust/Genocide Studies along with an education certification so I can teach Holocaust/Genocide Studies.

posted 04-09-2010 12:11 PM               

Got interested in Apollo missions after watching and reading Apollo 13. Then read Andrew Chaikin's "Man on the Moon" and that was it, hooked ever since.

posted 05-26-2010 01:03 PM               

Who am I?

• I have a "go bag" containing my two items most likely to be signed accessible on a moment's notice, with two different-tipped black Sharpies.

• If you give me the name, I can tell you that person was an alternate Payload Specialist but can't remember how a cousin is related to me (and can't keep straight what a cousin once removed is.)

• I'm the one with stories on how I met some of the astronauts... and then there are "stories" on how I met some of them.

posted 06-18-2010 04:58 PM               

I have been hooked on spaceflight ever since I watched the launch of STS-1 on TV when I was 5. I watched every shuttle launch that I could from that point on. I was about 7 when I got my first space shuttle model kit, one of the old Gullows balsa wood models, and while I never built it, I think it is still with all my other goodies in storage in Texas. I need to get them out someday...

posted 09-30-2010 09:51 AM               

I thought I would finally introduce myself... My name is Karl, I live outside of Seattle, WA. I have been a space fanatic my entire life! I'm of the younger generation, I wasn't a twinkle in my dad's eye during the moonwalks, the space shuttle Challenger disaster happened on my 5th birthday and has left an everlasting fascination with NASA and space travel. To this day I believe the Apollo moon landings were the pinnacle of American exceptionalism, dedication and greatest exploration feat of mankind! I know, I know, we all know that... I just always have to say it when I can since I am a proud patriotic American when I look at our previous accomplishments.

I have wanted to watch a shuttle launch since I was 5 years old and the Challenger disaster. Since there was only two left, I figured what the hell, if I'm going to do it I have to do it NOW! I got a pair of tickets to the November 1st launch, and out of all people I am bringing my mother since she is the only other space nut fanatic that I know.

I also had the unique chance to meet Harrison Schmitt last week, in part to links and posts that I found on collectSPACE a month or two ago that lead me the way. Thanks guys!! It was awe inspiring to meet an in the flesh American hero, shake hands, have a few minutes of chit chat and come home with a one of a kind signed item that would blow you guys away!

I look forward to reading more posts and tossing my two cents in when its helpful or adds a good laugh! I am giddy with excitement to watch my first shuttle launch and will be attending the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation's show and can't hardly wait to finally meet more of the guys I've been reading about and encouraging me to dream of space for 25 years!

posted 01-05-2011 02:50 PM               

Have picked up quite a few in the last few months to get started again. Am working on a trade list. I started decades ago collecting military patches and have an Army collection to part with and I was collecting USAF space related units, but have decided I will be parting with that and sticking with space only. I plan to keep the rocket/missile launch patches so that will be part of my collection.

I have about 1000 total in space I project, right now I am re-inventorying into an Access database so I can keep better control of them.

So, I look forward to speaking and meeting all of you. I will be looking for patch meanings for most of the patches too. Why a patch design is why it is, and I see a lot on this GREAT web site so lots of research to do.

posted 01-06-2011 08:18 AM               

After getting my degree in aerospace engineering from Purdue, I spent the next 24 years working in the Shuttle and Titan Programs with Martin Marietta/Lockheed Martin in Denver. I did mission simulation work and supported 17 Shuttle missions beginning with STS-6 and continuing through STS-93. The darkest day was Challenger STS 51-L, which I worked on. We gathered around monitors in the hallways and listened to the grim commentary on the searches being conducted for survivors and causes.

posted 01-06-2011 09:49 AM               

I have a wall of space models in my den that I have built over the years. These include the Russian and American spacecraft and the ISS Space station. Many of the models are older and show signs of ware from being moved from place to place. My most recent addition is the 3D FameMaster model of the Saturn V rocket.

I also collect stamps and coins of the space program. But my most prized collection is my space patch collection. I have over 2000 space patches and every year add several more. Some are framed and hang on my walls while others are in binders. Some have been autographed by the astronauts themselves.

posted 01-06-2011 03:48 PM               

I have been interested in space since I was 6 and heard the beep beep of Sputnik on the radio. I watched all that was available TV of the Mercury-Gemini-Apollo launches. After Apollo 18 was canceled I was aghast that we did not pursue landing and setting up a base on the moon. Like most kids of the time, I wanted to be an astronaut. Unfortunately math and science were not my strong suits so I could not pursue that.

Presently I am kitchen manager at my synagogue which lets me pursue my other passion, cooking.

I recently started collecting space material. I had collected clippings and magazines from the early times, but those (with the exception of a couple of Nat Geos- the Joe Kittinger and the Apollo 11 ones which I still have) were not kept during many moves. My main interest is signed books because I like to read, followed by signed prints photos etc.

posted 01-22-2011 01:26 PM               

I've been lurking on these boards for quite some time, and just registered.

I worked for a couple of years in the 1980's at NASA Ames and eventually (in the '90's) got a Ph.D. specializing in satellite imagery. My hobbies include collecting space memorabilia (both flown and unflown items from the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, MGA, era), collecting coins, skiing, fishing, hiking and traveling.

I am trying to put together a set of at least one flown item from each of the MGA flights... 27 flights in all (6. 10, 11 respectively). Currently I've gotten flown items from 4, 7 and 10 flights respectively.

The items I've got range from a piece of Atlas 109-D, the booster that launched John Glenn, (ex: Deke Slayton), to a gold quarter eagle ($2.50 coin) that Jim McDivitt took with him on Gemini 4, to the Playboy calendar picture of DeDe Lind snuck aboard Apollo 12 by the backup crew.

I look forward to "talking" with you all, and hope to meet some of you sometime in the future.

posted 02-07-2011 09:47 AM               

My name is Aaron. I am currently in my third year working at Marshall Space Flight Center's model shop as a model maker and exhibits technician.

We at the MSFC model shop are all contractors, in fact the model shop staff has been a contract from the very beginning as far as I can tell. Our oldest serving current employee has been here since 1969 (he has seen several contracts).

As with many of you, I have been interested in aviation and space flight since childhood. I built model kits since the age of about 9. I am also a private pilot.

Yes, I am extremely fortunate to find myself in my position, and do try to make the most out of it on a daily basis. Who knew that one could build models for NASA?

posted 02-12-2011 10:06 AM               

My hobbies include collecting space books, baseball items and lever-action Winchesters.

I am old enough to remember the early days of the Mercury program with the delays and scrubs which seemed like an eternity for a boy my age, and the edge-of-your-seat nervousness I felt as the Apollo rockets slowly lifted from the launchpad.

Being a very patriotic person, nothing has served to fuel my sense of pride in my country more than our manned space program. I am puzzled by those who do not share my feelings in this regard.

posted 02-12-2011 11:03 PM            

Back in those days, I was able to ride my bike into JSC and go through all the visitor buildings I wanted to. A lot of my friends lived in Timber Cover and El Lago but I didn't really understand their history until recently. I attended Ed White School in El Lago for a semester.

I was a volunteer Space Flight Docent for a year at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. I worked on the Jim Lovell Shoot for the moon exhibit.

I finally saw my first Shuttle launch (STS-127) in July 2009. I'm still trying to figure out why I never made it to KSC before then in almost 30 years of flights.

posted 02-18-2011 07:52 AM               

I have been the Director of Education at the Calgary Aerospace Museum, Pima Air and Space Museum, Titan Missile Museum and the Challenger Learning Center of the Southwest.

I have worked for the Canadian Space Agency and was a Director of Lockheed Martin's international Space Education program called "Space Day", where I met Robert back in 2001.

I have been lucky enough to design, develop and fly student experiments on 8 shuttle flights and trained astronaut crews to use our hardware in space.

As a professional speaker on the space program, I have spoken to more than 100,000 people at schools, museums, science centers and major conferences. I have served as a space program expert on TV, Radio and in Newspapers with more than 100 appearances.

I was incredibly blessed to be a key player in the development of the world's first air and space museum located in an international airport, Spaceport Calgary at Calgary International Airport (YYC).

My collection began in the 1970's as a elementary student writing to NASA for astronaut autographs, and has grown to cover mission reports, technical documents, photos, flown artifacts from every program from Mercury to ISS.

posted 02-18-2011 04:12 PM               

I began my collecting career with coins, then became a dealer in numismatics in 1954. After retiring in 1977, I built a non-profit museum to house my 6,000-piece collection of general store merchandise from 1935 through 1945. In 2003, I donated the museum to the City of Palm Springs, CA.

I am a life member and Fellow of the Manuscript Society and a recipient of their Award of Distinction.

posted 02-22-2011 07:25 AM               

I have watched my sons using this wonderful resource for many years but never got around to registering as a member.

I don't think of the working part of my life any more, although as a scientist I do keep up to date with new developments in that direction.

I started collecting space in the early seventies and now have fairly extensive accumulation.

posted 02-22-2011 10:33 AM               

I became a space fanatic when watching Apollo 17 being covered on John Cravens News Round, and I count myself as being really lucky to have lived in the Apollo era.

I hit the jackpot when I found this site. I thought I knew a lot about space flight but I was soon humbled by the immense knowledge of many here.

My stand out space moments were touching the Apollo 10 CM when I was about 12 in the London science museum (ignoring the do-not- touch sign), visiting my mecca (Kennedy Space Centre) in 1997 and watching STS-1 launch live on TV. My saddest space moment was seeing Challenger explode live on TV.

I've built up an impressive collection of scale models depicting manned spaceflight so far and love reading astronaut autobiographies.

posted 01-05-2012 10:21 AM               

I have had very strong personal problems, but now it is finally solved, and I am more than happy to be back among all of you.

I am going to begin again to write to the astronauts. I guess I will have a lot of questions because I have only a small idea about the events during the June 2007 to December 2011 period. I have delay to catch up.

For the new members, a small presentation.

I am passionate since 1968; I try to collect different things: autographs of each astronaut, cosmonaut, taikonaut, spationaut (flown or unflown) in official portrait (BJS, OSS, EVA, costume for the older... I like a lot the old official litho).

posted 01-05-2012 11:05 AM               

I have been lucky to have a varied career within the space business.

USAF:

• 5 years at LAAFB in the USAF STS program office
  
• 4 years at CCAFS in spacecraft launch ops

• 8 years - Spacehab ground ops

• 7 years - ELV spacecraft integration
  
• 2 years spacecraft processing support

• STS - 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 36, 37, 38, 39, 44, 48 and 53 while in the Air Force

• 57, 60, 63, 76, 77, 79, 81, 84, 86, 89, 91, 96, 101, 103, 106 & 107 MDAC/Boeing on the Spacehab program

• Titan 34D-2 and 16; Titan-IV K-1, 4, 6, 10, 7, 9, 23; Atlas G/I AC- 68, 69, 72, 75 while in the Air Force

• Delta II Jason/TIMED, Contour, MAP, ICESAT/CHIPSAT, MER A, MER B; Atlas V MRO, PNH, Kepler, STSS Demo, SDO, Juno, MSL, while at NASA