posted 03-31-2014 01:46 AM               

Well-known signatures are found throughout the records of the National Archives. Equally important are the multitude of marks by people unknown to history. The documents signed by these individuals represent fascinating stories to be discovered.

"Making Their Mark: Stories Through Signatures" features original signatures from our nationwide holdings. From developing a signature style to signing groundbreaking policy into law, they illustrate the many ways people have "made their mark" on history.

...the men were caught in the middle of the larger Cold War rivalry and space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. NASA, concerned about the growing competition between the two countries, sent this memo proposing to publicly work with Russia. Two of the seven, Walter M. Schirra and Donald K. Slayton, in an apparent protest to this, crossed their names out and did not sign.

posted 03-31-2014 08:30 AM               

Memo to NASA Mercury astronauts re: exchange of visits with Russian astronauts, 10/21/1959; Security Classified Reference Files, 1961–1963, Records of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Record Group 255; National Archives at Fort Worth (Identifier 5756572)