SkyMan gets down and dirty. Offroading anyone?
SkyMan
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Two of our (more or less) circulating coins commemorate the Apollo 11 Moon landing. The reverses of the Anthony and Ike dollars are modified copies of the Apollo 11 mission patch.
As many of you know, I collect space memorabilia from the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo (MGA) era. Just as a coin collector can try to put together a coin series, I have been trying to put together a set of FLOWN items from each of the 27 MGA flights (6, 10 and 11 respectively). Heritage had an auction today where I won 3 out of the 4 lots I bid on. I won two flown mission patches. The first one was for Gemini 7, the first mission (in conjunction with Gemini 6) to ever rendezvous in space. The second patch was for Apollo 9, the first mission to use the Lunar Module (LM)... in this case test flying it in earth orbit. The LM was the first manned spacecraft ever to be designed to be solely flown in space. The one lot I did NOT win was an Apollo 9 flown eye patch (for night adjusting the eyesight of the pilot so that he could use the sextant to view stars for navigational purposes).
I was a VERY lucky camper today to win an item that I had been wanting to get for some time. The first car ever driven on a planetary body other than the earth was the Lunar Rover, LRV001. It flew on Apollo 15. To memorialize this, the mission commander carried with him some small "license plates" whenever he was on the Moon's surface. So, here is one of the license plates for the first "car" on another world.
As many of you know, I collect space memorabilia from the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo (MGA) era. Just as a coin collector can try to put together a coin series, I have been trying to put together a set of FLOWN items from each of the 27 MGA flights (6, 10 and 11 respectively). Heritage had an auction today where I won 3 out of the 4 lots I bid on. I won two flown mission patches. The first one was for Gemini 7, the first mission (in conjunction with Gemini 6) to ever rendezvous in space. The second patch was for Apollo 9, the first mission to use the Lunar Module (LM)... in this case test flying it in earth orbit. The LM was the first manned spacecraft ever to be designed to be solely flown in space. The one lot I did NOT win was an Apollo 9 flown eye patch (for night adjusting the eyesight of the pilot so that he could use the sextant to view stars for navigational purposes).
I was a VERY lucky camper today to win an item that I had been wanting to get for some time. The first car ever driven on a planetary body other than the earth was the Lunar Rover, LRV001. It flew on Apollo 15. To memorialize this, the mission commander carried with him some small "license plates" whenever he was on the Moon's surface. So, here is one of the license plates for the first "car" on another world.
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BTW, I love how the rover looks like a kid-made go-kart with two lawn chairs strapped to the top.
Empty Nest Collection
Spike the moon rock bag...
I watched 'Space Cowboys' again yesterday with Clint Eastwood......you know, the whole geriatrics-in-space-saving-the-world flick........I love space flicks! A particularly sweet space movie (with exceptional effects) that didn't get much theater run is 'Sunshine'.....it has more of a spooky-horror-thriller feel to it, but it's very well done.
Your space memorabilia is great stuff. In the overall scheme of things these historical items from the early days of space exploration and manned orbital and moon missions is much more significant that any coin can be.
Kudos to you and your collecting efforts in the are of space exploration.
I love the pictures of the gemini and apollo missions your posted. It reminds me of my childhood and teenage years when these events took place. TV, radio and print media coverage of these events was great. So also the photos and stories about the missions that were printed in Life, Look, National Geographic, etc.
PS. The Ike Dollar you posted a pic of is fantastic. Who says clad coins are ugly? This one is just the opposite.
I still get to laughing thinking about that character bouncing across the moon in that buggy. What a sight!
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
AB