posted 09-23-2022 12:38 PM               

Outside of the cool sentiment behind its existence, and the humor flowing through it, it is one of the few full-signature "Armstrong" autographs (for a collector item) that I have seen. Occasionally you find a full signature on a formal document, etc. But most autographs — certainly from the era this one was penned — are usually his standard shortened form.

posted 09-25-2022 08:00 PM               

First, there is an Astronaut Hall of Fame poster (with 20 great photos from Mercury to the shuttle) signed by 17 M-G-A astronauts. Among them are "the first American in space, six of the original seven Mercury astronauts, and at least one member of every Apollo mission—including every commander but Armstrong."

Then there is a wonderful, vintage, large work of space art by Russell Arasmith. It shows the Apollo 9 Command/Service Module Gumdrop docked with the Lunar Module Spider high above the Earth, with LMP Rusty Schweickart spacewalking around the exterior of the Spider and CMP Dave Scott preparing to perform a standup EVA from Gumdrop’s hatch.

Arasmith did all the space drawings for the Los Angeles Times. The drawings were the result of extensive briefings he attended at various NASA centers. All were done before the fact on the same schedule with the individual missions involved. The articles and the drawing were run in the Los Angeles Times on the day the actual event occurred. The Times Syndicate then distributed the artwork to 300 newspapers all over the world.

There is a NASA web page showing samples of Arasmith's art from Gemini through the shuttle. And here is a space art blog page all about Arasmith's artwork specifically for Apollo 9, including this painting. And finally, as an example of his work being published, is the extra edition of the LA Times on the evening of the Apollo 1 fire, with his picture of the CM with a cutaway view used on the front page.

posted 10-20-2022 10:26 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Rocketman!:
Very cool. I love learning about "new" (old) space artists.

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posted 10-20-2022 10:10 PM               

collectSPACE

Astronaut's gold Omega moonwatch sells for record $1.9M at auction

A gold wristwatch created in celebration of the first moon landing that was presented to the first person to wear a similar model chronograph in space has sold for $1.9 million — making it the most ever paid for an astronaut-owned timepiece.

The auction hammer fell on Thursday evening (Oct. 20) at $1,525,563 for Wally Schirra's Apollo 11 commemorative Omega Speedmaster Professional. With fees included, the watch sold for $1,906,953.75 as part of space exploration-focused online sale organized by RR Auction of New Hampshire. The winning bidder was not identified.