LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2008 MAR Grand Format Air & Space Sale #6000  / 

58087

Richard Gordon's Apollo 12 LM Flown Tie Pin

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:7,250.00 USD Estimated At:7,500.00 - 10,000.00 USD
Richard Gordon's Apollo 12 LM Flown Tie Pin
<B>Richard Gordon's Apollo 12 Lunar Module Flown Tie Pin.</B></I> One of an edition of only fifty pieces, twenty-five of which were given to the crew. A round gold pin, 5/8" in diameter with an enameled red, white, and blue American flag over a scene of moon craters. On the reverse is the text "Flown To The Moon By An Intrepid Crew/ Apollo XII/ November 1969" above a set of Navy wings and "Conrad • Gordon • Bean" below. The "Intrepid" refers to the name of the lunar module for this mission. The Navy wings are there as all three of the crewmembers were Naval Aviators.<BR><BR>Apollo 12 was the second manned mission to land on the moon. It got off to a bit of a shaky start on November 14, 1969, as their Saturn V rocket was struck by lightning just 36 seconds after liftoff causing the Command Module <I>Yankee Clipper's</B></I> instruments to go offline. Only some quick action by the crewmembers and ground control saved the flight from being aborted. Their precision lunar landing was just 580 feet off target and that because the actual target site looked rougher than anticipated as they neared it. Their site in the "Ocean of Storms" was only 600 feet from the unmanned probe <I>Surveyor 3</B></I>, which had been there since April 1967, and they gathered pieces of it for analysis back on Earth. The lunar module crew performed two EVAs for a total of nearly eight hours out of the thirty-one+ hours <I>Intrepid</B></I> was on the moon's surface. They landed safely back on Earth on November 24, 1969. Included with this lot is a handwritten and signed letter of authenticity from Richard Gordon stating (in part), "<I>This 'Moon Pin' has been in my personal collection since the conclusion of the Apollo XII Mission.</B></I>" <I>From the collection of Richard Gordon</B></I>.<BR><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Miscellaneous Collectibles, Smal (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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