MISSION COMPLETE, HOUSTON. ATLANTIS HAS EARNED ITS PLACE IN HISTORY. FINAL WHEELS STOP.

I have updated the Expedition 40/41 image with the newly produced YouTube Channel video which can be viewed here.

I hope you enjoy the new addition.

Wow! Now this collection is heading the next level.

Great work!

I have added a new addition to the collection from Space Shuttle Commander Frederick Gregory.

Frederick Gregory was selected as an astronaut by NASA in January 1978. Gregory’s first space assignment was as pilot of Space Shuttle Challenger, in 1985. On November 23, 1989, he commanded the Space Shuttle Discovery into orbit with four other astronauts. Gregory again commanded a Defense Department mission in 1991 with the launch of Atlantis. Finally, he served as NASA’s Deputy Administrator from 2002-2005 and was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on May 1, 2004.

That was a very enjoyable read. Thankyou for your time and effort @TLIGuy

TLIGuy, Great effort on your part. I know Fred fairly well and he is friendly and funny guy as well as a hell of a pilot. The STS-33 landing was one of the more interesting in the history of the Shuttle.

what a marvelous thing to have put together!!
Bravo sir

You are putting together the total package of artifact display. The item, the images and the story. Great job.

Btw, the photo of the crew of STS-33 was a very good crew. Four out of the five crew mates are in the Astronaut Hall of Fame. They are good people.

very interesting!!

I was expecting to see something else based on the title, but I was still pleasantly surprised. Great post!

I have updated the Fred Haise Apollo 13 image with the newly produced Speedmaster Signature Collection YouTube Channel video which can be viewed here.

I hope you enjoy the new addition.

Another great video to add to a stellar collection.

Still amazed how much info each astronaut could fit in a caseback 👍

Great Thread

I have added a new piece to the collection signed by Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot Al Worden. This new addition takes the collection back to its original intent of documenting historic manned spaceflight events by marking the exact moment in time that Al Worden began the first ever deep space EVA.

Colonel Al Worden was one of 19 astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966, in the 5th group of astronauts selected. Prior to his Apollo 15 mission and the Command Module Pilot he served as a member of the crew support for Apollo 9 and as the backup Command Module Pilot for Apollo 12.

Al Worden served as the Command Module Pilot for Apollo 15, July 26 to August 7, 1971. Apollo 15 was the fourth manned lunar mission and the first to visit and explore the Moon’s Hadley Rille and Apennine Mountains. While transiting back to Earth on August 5, 1971 Al Worden preformed the first ever deep space EVA approximately 196,000 miles form Earth. During his EVA Worden logged 38 minutes outside the Command Module Endeavour. In completing his three excursions to Endeavour’s Scientific Instrument Module bay, Worden retrieved film cassettes from the panoramic and mapping cameras. In completing his spaceflight, Worden logged 295 hours and 11 minutes in space.

I have added one of my most sought after pieces to the collection signed by X-15 test pilot and Space Shuttle astronaut Joe Engle.

Test pilot Joe Engle made 16 flights in the X-15 rocket plane and qualified as a Military astronaut before he became a NASA astronaut and flew two Space Shuttle missions. In 1981, Engle commanded the second flight of Space Shuttle Columbia beginning November 12, 1981, with pilot Richard Truly in the first spaceship to return to orbit. On this flight, Engle performed manual flight test data maneuvers throughout the re-entry and became the only pilot to manually fly a vehicle from Mach 25 in space to touchdown. In 1985 he commanded a five-man crew on the 20th shuttle flight, a satellite deploy and repair mission.

Joe Engle is a graduate of the USAF Experimental Test Pilot School and the Aerospace Research Pilot School. From 1963 to 1966, Engle was a test pilot in the X-15 research program at Edwards Air Force Base. Three of his 16 X-15 flights exceeded 50 miles in altitude and as a result he became the youngest pilot to qualify as an astronaut.

In 1966, NASA selected Engle to join its Group 5 astronaut class. After serving as a backup crewman in the Apollo program, he served as commander of one of two crews that flew several Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Test flights in 1977. During these tests, the orbiter Enterprise was carried to 25,000 feet bolted on top of a Boeing 747 carrier aircraft and then released for its two-minute glide flight to a landing in the California desert.

Two years in the making 2018 has ended with the addition of one of my most sought after piece for the collection signed by Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka.

Gennady Ivanovich Padalka is a Russian Air Force officer and Roscomos cosmonaut. Gennady Padalka currently holds the world record for the most time spent in space, accumulating 878 days in space, more than any other person. He worked on Mir-26 and four International Space Station Expedition missions. He is a record breaking cosmonaut who’s first journey into space was in 1998, to Russia’s Mir space station and the only person to have commanded the International Space Station four times, he has also participated in 10 spacewalks.

Meet the legend Gennady Padalka...

CREDIT - NASA