Goldberg Coins and Collectibles

Sale 88

The Manuscripts, Collectibles and Space Auction

Mercury Program

Lot	Photo	Description	Realized
Lot 1025		1961-62 B&W Project Mercury photo contact prints. Sheet of 30 contact prints depicting Project Mercury activity with images of Mercury capsule being inspected by astronauts and others. Contains images of Glenn, Cooper, Carpenter & Slayton. These images were NOT RELEASED for public or press use. Some cracking from attempted cutting of the print. Estimated Value $200 - 300. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $135
Lot 1026		1950s-70s launch complex artifacts (x5). Five small size (max size 1½"x½") pieces of launch complex material from Pad 5 gantry, Pad 14 cable, Pad 19 linoleum, Pad 26 gantry and Pad 34 launch pedestal. All five of the pads witnessed historic events such as Ham, Shepard & Grissom flights in early 1960s, Glenn flight in 1962 and Apollo 1 tragedy. All mounted on William Dickerson COA. Estimated Value $200 - 300. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $156
Lot 1027		1963 Mercury launch complex 14 service tower piece. Piece, 1½"x¾", of cableway that ran up the tower from launch complex 14 that saw the launches of Mercury astronauts John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Wally Schirra and Gordon Cooper. Piece is mounted on 8½"x11" William Dickerson COA. Also includes vintage pad postcard. Estimated Value $150 - 200. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $144
Lot 1028		1960s launch complex 26 fragments (x4). Four fragments from gantry on Pad 26 where Explorer satellite was launched, max size 1" long. One mounted on William Dickerson COA, one on Explorer I 50th anniversary cover and two mounted on souvenir cards. Two collateral pieces included. Estimated Value $150 - 200. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $42
Lot 1029		1961 MR-3 flight used umbilical cable. Section of umbilical cable from MR-3 launch, 2" diameter and roughly ½" thick. Cable piece part of 65 foot long cable boom that supplied pre-launch electrical power & communications to spacecraft and was ejected 30 sec prior to lift-off. This segment is from the collection of Mercury project engineer, H.H. "Luge" Luetjen and has not been offered publically since 1994. Includes empty display box and directions for displaying cable segment in box. Estimated Value $500 - 750. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $720
Lot 1030		1965 Mercury 6 Astronauts & Spouses signed agent contract. Four (4) page contract between Mr & Mrs Carpenter, Cooper, Grissom, Schirra, Shepard & Slayton and Harry A Batten who would act as agent on their behalf. Page 3 bears bold signatures of M. Scott Carpenter, Leroy S Cooper, Jr, Virgil I Grissom, Walter M Schirra, Jr, Alan B Shepard, Jr, D K Slayton and Harry A Batten. Page 4 bears bold signatures of Rene Carpenter, Trudy Cooper, Betty Grissom, Josephine Schirra, Louise Shepard and Marjory Slayton. Note: No John and Annie Glenn. It is likely that Glenn did not participate because he had resigned from NASA the year before to go into politics. Some coffee (?) staining minimally affects Schirra, Shepard & Slayton signatures. Coffee (?) spill probably occurred while Deke Slayton was reading the contract as this is Deke Slayton's copy. A wonderful signed document. Estimated Value $1,500 - 2,000. Ex Astronaut Donald K Slayton Estate collection. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $1,320
Lot 1031		FLOWN Mercury ablative heat shield from manned mission. This section of heat shield was removed from a manned spacecraft after its mission was completed. After recovery the spacecraft was processed by NASA and several sections of the heat sheld were removed. The section was examined to determine its performance during the re-entry phase of the flight which heated the ablative material to temperatures exceeding 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. The fiberglass composite clearly shows stress of re-entry on its charred exterior surface. This piece was destined to ba a part of an acrylic display but was never used. It is unclear which orbital manned flight this section came from. Measures approximately 1 cubic inch. COA (#7/16) included (Piece number is hand corrected by consignor who issued COA). Estimated Value $300 - 400. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $418