RARE! “Shuttle Astronauts" Hand Signed (X4) FDC From 1981 COA

Description: Up for auction a RARE! "Shuttle Astronauts" Hand Signed First Day Cover Dated 1981. Signers are; Jack Gregory, Mike Mullane, John Creghton, Dale Gardner. This piece come authenticated by Signature Auctions, and comes with their COA. ES - 3320 Richard Michael Mullane (born September 10, 1945; Col, USAF, Ret.) is an engineer and Weapon Systems Officer, a retired USAF officer, and a former NASA astronaut. During his career, he flew as a mission specialist on STS-41-D, STS-27, and STS-36. Richard Michael Mullane was born September 10, 1945, in Wichita Falls, Texas. At the time of his birth, his father, Hugh, was serving as a flight engineer on a B-17 in the Pacific War. His family moved regularly until his father was diagnosed with polio and lost the use of his legs, causing the family to move to Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was a Second Class Scout in the Boy Scouts of America. He graduated from St. Pius X High School, Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1963, then received a Bachelor of Science degree in Military Engineering from the United States Military Academy in 1967 and was awarded a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology in 1975. Mullane, an Air Force Colonel, graduated from West Point in 1967. He completed 134 combat missions as an RF-4C Weapon Systems Officer while stationed at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Vietnam, from January to November 1969. He subsequently served a 4-year tour of duty, in England. In July 1976, upon completing the USAF Flight Test Engineer Course at Edwards Air Force Base, California, he was assigned as a flight test weapon systems officer to the 3246th Test Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. John Oliver Creighton (born April 28, 1943), (Capt, USN, Ret.), is a former NASA astronaut who flew three Space Shuttle missions. He was born on April 28, 1943, in Orange, Texas, but considers Seattle, Washington, to be his hometown. He is married to the former Terry Stanford of Little Rock, Arkansas. He graduated from Ballard High School, Seattle, Washington, in 1961; received a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1966 and a Master of Science degree in Administration of Science and Technology from George Washington University in 1978. Creighton started flight training following graduation from the United States Naval Academy and received his aviator wings in October 1967. He was with squadron VF-154 from July 1968 to May 1970, flying F-4J Phantoms and made two combat deployments to Vietnam aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ranger. From June 1970 to February 1971, he attended the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, and upon graduation was assigned as a project test pilot with the Service Test Division at NAS Patuxent River. During this two-year tour of duty, he served as the F-14 Tomcat engine development project officer. In July 1973, Creighton commenced a four-year assignment with VF-2 and became a member of the first F-14 operational squadron, completing two deployments aboard USS Enterprise to the Western Pacific. He returned to the United States in July 1977 and was assigned to the Naval Air Test Center's Strike Directorate as operations officer and F-14 program manager.He has logged over 6,000 hours flying time, the majority of it in jet fighters, and has completed 500 carrier landings and 175 combat missions. Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978, Creighton became an astronaut in August 1979. During the following four years, he held a variety of technical assignments in support of the Space Shuttle Program. Following his first flight, Creighton became the astronaut representative to the Shuttle Program Manager. During the ensuing two years, Creighton participated in all the key decisions following the Challenger disaster helping to shape the plan for resuming safe manned space flight. Starting with STS-26, Creighton served as Lead "CAPCOM" for the first four Space Shuttle flights. In March 1989 he was assigned to command STS-36 but continued to serve as Head of the Mission Support Branch in the Astronaut Office until commencing full-time training for his upcoming flight. Following his second flight, Creighton headed up the Operations Development Branch within the Astronaut Office for one year prior to resuming full-time training for his next command. Creighton served as pilot on STS-51-G (June 17–24, 1985), was spacecraft commander on STS-36 (February 28 to March 4, 1990) and STS-48 (September 12–18, 1991), and has logged over 403 hours in space. Captain Creighton left NASA and retired from the Navy in July 1992. He was formerly a test pilot and worked in Aircraft Marketing & Delivery with the Boeing Airplane Company until he retired in 2007. Dale Allan Gardner (November 8, 1948 – February 19, 2014) was a NASA astronaut, and naval flight officer who flew two Space Shuttle missions during the mid 1980s. Born on November 8, 1948, in Fairmont, Minnesota, Gardner grew up in Sherburn, Minnesota, and Savanna, Illinois. He considered his hometown to be Clinton, Iowa, where his mother, Mrs. Alice Gardner, resides. He lived with his second wife Sherry in Golden, Colorado and later in Divide, Colorado until his death. Gardner is also survived by his daughter Lisa Gardner-Hoefler, grandchild Isabella Hoefler and his sisters Peggy Janka and Kay Zipse. His father William and son Todd predeceased him. An avid sports enthusiast, he enjoyed snow skiing, golfing, tennis, woodworking and photography. Gardner graduated as valedictorian of his class from Savanna Community High School, in Savanna, Illinois, in 1966. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1970. Upon graduation from the University of Illinois in 1970, Gardner entered into active duty with the United States Navy and was assigned to the Aviation Officer Candidate School at Pensacola, Florida. He was commissioned an Ensign and was selected as the most promising naval officer from his class. In October 1970 he began Basic Naval Flight Officer training with the VT-10 squadron at Pensacola, graduating with the highest academic average ever achieved in the history of the squadron. He proceeded to the Naval Air Technical Training Center at NAS Glynco, Georgia, for Advanced Naval Flight Officer training and was selected a Distinguished Naval Graduate and awarded his Naval Flight Officer wings on May 5, 1971. At the Naval Air Test Center at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, from May 1971 to July 1973, he was assigned to the Weapons Systems Test Division and involved in initial F-14 Tomcat developmental test and evaluation as Project Officer for Inertial Navigation and Avionics Systems. Gardner's next assignment was with the first operational F-14 squadron (VF-1) at Naval Air Station Miramar, California, from where he flew in the Tomcat and participated in two Western Pacific and Indian Ocean cruises while deployed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise. From December 1976 until July 1978, he was assigned to Test and Evaluation Squadron 4 (VX-4) aboard NAS Point Mugu, California, involved in the operational test and evaluation of Navy fighter aircraft. Gardner was selected as an Astronaut Candidate by NASA in January 1978, reporting to the Johnson Space Center in July 1978. In August 1979 he completed a one-year training and evaluation period, making him eligible for assignment as a Mission Specialist Astronaut. He subsequently served as the Astronaut Project Manager for the flight software in the Space Shuttle onboard computers leading up to the first flight in April 1981. He then served as a Support Crew Astronaut for the fourth flight (STS-4). He flew as a mission specialist on STS-8 (August 30 to September 5, 1983) and STS-51-A (November 8–16, 1984). Gardner logged a total of 337 hours in space and 225 orbits of the Earth on these two flights. He logged more than 2,300 hours flying time in over 20 different types of aircraft and spacecraft. Prior to the Challenger accident, Gardner was chosen to be a member of the first Shuttle mission to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. That flight and the Vandenberg launch capability itself were canceled after the accident. Jack I. Gregory, Jr., was the director for mission support from 2014 to 2019 at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. He was responsible for the center’s acquisition, transportation, logistics, facility maintenance and engineering, human resources, protective services and export control in support of the center’s mission of advancing science and technology through flight. Prior to joining Armstrong and after completing 29 years of military service, Gregory joined the federal government as a civil servant serving as chief of staff for the U.S. Air Force Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base. As the executive manager for a 250-person headquarters, he synchronized the activity of a workforce of 18,000 and was responsible for the Air Force’s developmental testing of aerospace systems at four major operating locations at more than 30 other sites. He also guided the center through a major reorganization that resulted in the consolidation of all Air Force developmental test activities under a single, unified test center. During his active-duty Air Force career, from which he retired as a colonel and pilot with more than 3,400 flight hours in F-4 and F-16 aircraft, he served as deputy commander of the 9,000 Air Force personnel based in Alaska and, earlier, as deputy commander of the Department of Defense's second largest base and test facility, establishing strategic direction and allocating resources for developmental flight test programs while directing a $1 billion annual budget and managing a $6 billion physical plant. Prior to these assignments, he commanded a 500-person flying organization that operated from four different locations providing flight evaluations of all Air Force fighter and bomber aircraft, air-to-air missiles and conventional precision guided air-to-ground munitions. While assigned to Headquarters Air Force, Gregory directed a staff charged with formulating policy for internationally sensitive issues impacting U.S. politico-military relations with 54 countries in the Middle East and Africa. Gregory also served as a Middle East policy officer on the Secretary of Defense’s staff, developing U.S. national security strategy and defense policy for Egypt, Tunisia and Libya. In addition to multiple flying and staff assignments throughout the U.S. and in Germany and the Republic of Korea, he commanded a binational F-16 flying squadron of more than 250 U.S. and Republic of Singapore personnel. Gregory has received numerous awards for meritorious service and outstanding achievement, including the Legion of Merit, the Aerial Achievement Medal and the Air Force’s Exemplary Civilian Service Award. Gregory earned a Bachelor of Science in biology from Berry College in Mount Berry, Georgia, a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Oklahoma and a second master’s degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Air Force’s Air University. In addition, he is a graduate of the Air Force’s Squadron Officer School, Air Command and Staff College, and Air War College, and the Department of Defense’s Armed Forces Staff College.

Price: 249.99 USD

Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

End Time: 2024-12-24T20:45:26.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD