Alexey Leonov private signing for charity

Alexey Leonov private signing for charity

Alexey Leonov private signing for charity

Florian Noller, Spaceflori, has conducted a private signing with Alexey Leonov. The proceeds will benefit Artem Anisimov, the son of a former cosmonaut candidate and now teacher of the cosmonauts, who suffers from a rare version of epilepsy that can only be treated outside Russia.

Prices are very reasonable and you are contributing to a good cause. For more details, check out Spaceflori.com.

Joe Walker, X-15 Pilot, signed postal cover

Joe Walker (February 20, 1921 – June 8, 1966) flew the X-15 rocket plane 25 times, and exceeded a 50 mile altitude three times, qualifying him as an astronaut by US Air Force standards.

Joe Walker was killed on June, 8 1966, when his F-104 Starfighter collided with a North American XB-70 Valkyrie. Walker's Starfighter was in a tight formation for a General Electric publicity photo when his F-104 collided with the XB-70's right wingtip.

Joe walker signed X-15 Sarzin postal cover

Joe walker signed X-15 Sarzin postal cover

Due to his untimely death at the relatively young age of 45, Walker is a desirable and uncommon autograph... especially in 8x10 photograph format. Expect to pay a few hundred dollars for a postal cover and $600 - $700 or more for a signed 8x10 photograph. Due to the high value and demand, Joe Walker forgeries exist in quantity.

Stuart Roosa - An uncommon astronaut autograph

Stuart Roosa, Apollo 14 Command Module Pilot, was one of 24 men to travel to the moon. He was a sporadic signer and passed away in 1994, before the period when commercial signing became more commonplace. To my knowledge, he commercially signed Sieger Stamp blocks in the early 70s, a few art prints, and 8x10 photos for one of the first companies that specialized in astronaut signed photos, The SpaceSource of Glen Dale, Maryland. Other than that he did no commercial signings or memorabilia shows.

For this reason, Stuart Roosa is a relatively uncommon signature among the Apollo astronauts and can command top dollar. Expect to pay several hundred dollars for a personalized photo and perhaps $1,000+ for an un-personalized White Space Suit Portrait. The Sieger stamp blocks are small and the signatures typically have poor contrast over a busy background, so they are an economical way to get a Roosa signature at typically under $50. 

Regrettably, Roosa is the target of forgers... some of them skilled and fairly deceptive.

Interestingly, Stuart Roosa's image and family was featured in an USAA insurance television ad in 2013.

Stuart Roosa signed Apollo 14 Crew Portrait

Stuart Roosa signed Apollo 14 Crew Portrait

Ed White: The first American to walk in space 50 years ago

50 years ago today, Edward H. White was the first American to walk in space on the Gemini IV mission. Even 50 years later, the images of White's space walk captured by Jim McDivitt are among the most compelling of the space race.

This photo signed by Ed White to "Warren" was originally from the collection of Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher, Warren Spahn. Apparently, Spahn was a follower of the space race and a bit of an autograph collector himself. He met astronauts on occasion and his collection contained a number of gems, including baseballs signed by the Mercury 7, the Gemini IV crew and more. 

ed white signed photo to warren spahn

Ken Mattingly signed white space suit portrait

Here is a clean and choice Ken Mattingly signed white space suit portrait. Often Mattingly signatures are rushed and can be quite messy. Really nice TK Mattingly signatures are getting harder to find as they land in collections and stay there.  Also be aware that there are a LOT of Mattingly fakes ranging from obvious to highly deceptive.

Ken Mattingly signed white space suit portrait

Ken Mattingly signed white space suit portrait

RR Auction Spring 2015 Space Auction Ends Thursday April 23

Signed Apollo 1 crew lithograph from RR Auction Spring 2015 Space Auction

Another strong offering from RR Auction on what has become the premier space memorabilia auction. Well over 300 lots of top notch flown items, memorabilia and autographed material. As the space autograph authenticator for RR, it is a pleasure to get to review the goodies!

I was interested in adding one item in particular to my collection… regrettably, I was bumped out of the running early!

 

New Gene Cernan Autopen pattern identified

I have identified a previously unpublished Gene Cernan Autopen pattern. Unlike all other previously identified Cernan Autopens that have a standard "C," this one has the C swooping under the entire last name.

It always amazes me how we can still find unpublished patterns decades after they were put into circulation!

Previously unpublished Gene Cernan Autopen pattern identified in March 2015.

Previously unpublished Gene Cernan Autopen pattern identified in March 2015.