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Author
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Topic: Photo of the week 302 (August 14, 2010)
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heng44
Member Posts: 3387
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 08-13-2010 03:56 PM
   
 The backup crew for the first manned Skylab mission is photographed in a similar pose as the prime crew. Left to right are Bruce McCandless, Rusty Schweickart and Story Musgrave. Ed Hengeveld |
ea757grrl
Member Posts: 729
From: South Carolina
Registered: Jul 2006
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posted 08-13-2010 09:38 PM
Wow. Almost the entire spectrum of 1970s men's hairstyles in one picture!  |
KSCartist
Member Posts: 2896
From: Titusville, FL USA
Registered: Feb 2005
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posted 08-14-2010 04:58 AM
Do their patches have their names or the prime crew names?Great photo Ed. |
golddog
Member Posts: 210
From: australia
Registered: Feb 2008
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posted 08-14-2010 06:36 AM
Pretty sure I can make out Musgrave and McCandless. |
heng44
Member Posts: 3387
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 08-14-2010 06:56 AM
The patch has the names of the prime crew. |
dtemple
Member Posts: 729
From: Longview, Texas, USA
Registered: Apr 2000
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posted 08-14-2010 10:53 AM
That photo raises an unpleasant memory for me! I had two signed by McCandless and Schweickart - went to the trouble of mailing them to people going to one of the Autographica shows. Then they were sent to Musgrave. Six months later they had not been returned. I wrote a very polite note to him and included every way in the world to contact me - SASE, email address, phone number. Two years later still nothing. Obviously he does not sign through the mail and seemingly will not even return items unsigned, so anyone thinking of getting that photo completed should find another way to do it! |
capoetc
Member Posts: 2169
From: McKinney TX (USA)
Registered: Aug 2005
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posted 08-14-2010 12:34 PM
quote:
Originally posted by dtemple:
Then they were sent to Musgrave. Six months later they had not been returned...
In the realm of autograph collecting by mail, 6 months is not nearly long enough to wait. There are plenty of stories of people receiving responses 1 1/2-2 years later, or even longer.It is possible that Musgrave will never return your items, which is of course his right. However, it is also possible that he simply lets all the requests pile up, and then has someone assist him in signing and returning them all at once. If you mail items to folks looking for free autographs in return, patience is your most useful asset. |
Paul23
Member Posts: 836
From: South East, UK
Registered: Apr 2008
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posted 08-14-2010 01:25 PM
I think Rusty's mane in this photo demonstrates why men should always stick to a short back and sides throughout their lives! |
KSCartist
Member Posts: 2896
From: Titusville, FL USA
Registered: Feb 2005
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posted 08-14-2010 01:58 PM
quote:
Originally posted by capoetc:
It is possible that Musgrave will never return your items, which is of course his right.
I disagree. If Musgrave is goo busy he can take all the time he wants to sign and return them. But if he doesn't want to sign them then he should return them to the rightful owner. Musgrave or any other astronaut for that matter doesn't have the right to keep others property. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 08-14-2010 02:46 PM
Sorry to disagree, but so long as no agreement (verbal, written, implied or otherwise) exists prior to the items being sent, the recipient is under no obligation to do anything. Having never been solicited, the deliveries may as well be considered junk mail and discarded with accordingly.To be clear, I am not suggesting that Musgrave discards of the autograph requests he receives; I have no knowledge of what he does, but like everyone else, he does not have a responsibility for something he never invited or requested. |
Michael Davis
Member Posts: 528
From: Houston, Texas
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted 08-14-2010 04:57 PM
Yep. This same thing happened to me with Al Worden back in the 1990's. I sent some already signed items to him for completion at an address in North Carolina. Nothing was ever returned. It really bothered me for awhile. But eventually I realized that he did not owe me anything. He did not solicit my mail. He did not promise to sign the photos. And he did not promise to return any unsigned items back to me. I took the full risk. It was also pointed out to me that he would have incurred the cost of both time and money to hire an assistant for processing all of the unsolicited mail he was receiving at that time. That cost is not something you can force on someone. |
Apollo Redux
Member Posts: 346
From: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Registered: Sep 2006
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posted 08-14-2010 06:32 PM
quote:
Originally posted by ea757grrl:
Wow. Almost the entire spectrum of 1970s men's hairstyles in one picture!
LOL... Bruce's and Story's would not be out of place today, but Rusty's screams bell-bottomed jeans and mood rings. |
ejectr
Member Posts: 1751
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 08-14-2010 07:01 PM
Rusty must have been the "Breck" astronaut. |
golddog
Member Posts: 210
From: australia
Registered: Feb 2008
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posted 08-15-2010 04:15 AM
Apologies to Tim (KSCartist) as I thought he meant the name tag.I can relate a very positive experience with Mr. Musgrave, he was very gracious, gave me a copy of his book and signed it and spent over half an hour talking to me and my wife, but it was at the KSC and face to face, I guess that made a difference perhaps. |
ea757grrl
Member Posts: 729
From: South Carolina
Registered: Jul 2006
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posted 08-15-2010 07:38 AM
quote:
Originally posted by ejectr:
Rusty must have been the "Breck" astronaut.
Oh, that's too good! Love it. |
Rob Joyner
Member Posts: 1308
From: GA, USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 08-16-2010 03:27 PM
I've met Story many times at KSC and he will sign face to face all day long, as well as pose for photos. But when I emailed him last year and asked if I could send him a NASA portrait to sign for my nephew who was graduating from high school, his polite reply was that he does "not do cold signings through the mail." |
dtemple
Member Posts: 729
From: Longview, Texas, USA
Registered: Apr 2000
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posted 08-19-2010 10:16 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Rob Joyner:
...his polite reply was that he does "not do cold signings through the mail."
I wish I had known that before sending the photos. One thing left out of my posting was that a check was enclosed made out to the Astronaut Hall of Fame - a donation in exchange for his time. The check was never cashed so clearly he never delivered it and it is now expired. The note I sent (to which there was no response) included an offer to send a replacement check. Obviously, Musgrave has no responsibility for my photos, but just how difficult would using the SASE to return the items unsigned have been? Maybe that will happen some day, but strongly doubt it. Just don't send anything to him to get signed! |
Delta7
Member Posts: 1505
From: Bluffton IN USA
Registered: Oct 2007
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posted 08-20-2010 05:57 PM
I know there was some talk at one point about launching the second Orbital Workshop (the one now on display at the National Air and Space Museum). I would think this crew would have been a prime candidate for a flight to the second Skylab, which also would have been a better prospect for a shuttle re-boost mission. It would have been launched at least a couple of years later than the first, and thus remained in orbit until a later date than the first. |
disglobes
Member Posts: 594
From: Orting, WA
Registered: May 2000
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posted 08-30-2010 04:09 PM
Story has responded to me through the mail several times over the last 10 years. |
carmelo
Member Posts: 1047
From: Messina, Sicilia, Italia
Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 09-06-2010 02:33 PM
Why didn't the backup crew of Skylab 2 not become the first crew of Skylab 4? |
Jeff
Member Posts: 474
From: Fayetteville, NC, USA
Registered: May 2009
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posted 09-06-2010 02:40 PM
My guess would be that they just followed the normal rotation that Deke Slayton had established...Back up crew, skip two flights, than become Prime Crew on the next mission...only there wasn't a SkyLab-5. |
albatron
Member Posts: 2732
From: Stuart, Florida
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted 09-06-2010 03:31 PM
quote:
Originally posted by dtemple:
Obviously he does not sign through the mail and seemingly will not even return items unsigned, so anyone thinking of getting that photo completed should find another way to do it!
Actually Story is generally an excellent mail signer, but, can take some very long times to reply. But two years may be a little excessive even for him.In his case I would have to believe the items were lost in transit one way or the other. He is not the kind to junk your items. |
machbusterman
Member Posts: 1778
From: Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland
Registered: May 2004
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posted 09-07-2010 02:37 PM
quote:
Originally posted by albatron:
In his case I would have to believe the items were lost in transit one way or the other. He is not the kind to junk your items.
Al, I'm sorry to say but I beg to differ with your statement above. I emailed Story asking permission to send a couple of items to him (including a Skylab 1 back-up crew already signed by McCandless and Schweickart) and his response was "send them on, remind me you were at KSC or they will get tossed".I did as Story requested and mentioned the email in the letter plus visiting KSC and attending the ASF show. That was March 2009.
I contacted Story again in June 2009 and asked if he had received them and his response was: If you did not highlight them as from KSC, they went into the trash, I am unable to handle cold mail, I have no clerical help. At no point during my correspondence was it mentioned I had to highlight them (meaning the envelope!) as from KSC. So there ya go, you do things right, you contact and ask permission and your stuff still goes in the trash. Needless to say I was less than impressed at losing my SL-1 back-up crew glossy. I'll no longer send any multi-signed items TTM... it's simply not worth the risk. |
ejectr
Member Posts: 1751
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 09-07-2010 05:30 PM
Ouch! |
mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 09-08-2010 03:42 PM
Thanks for sharing your experience, Derek! The e-mails you received from Musgrave definitely support the idea that unsolicited autograph requests will likely be discarded. |
space_19771999
Member Posts: 136
From:
Registered: Jan 2005
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posted 09-12-2010 11:16 AM
I only paid for the McCandless signature and I have received the autographs of the two other astronauts in person for free some years ago. This nice crew photo is not for sale |
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