Unique Apollo program triangular pennant, 47 x 35, flown over the North American Rockwell headquarters building in 1968, the same year the first manned space-flight took orbit. Features the highly uncommon Apollo program emblem with central moon and three stars. In fine condition, with expected wear. Accompanied by a photocopy of the front page of the Manned Flight Awareness newsletter, dated August 26, 1968, Vol. 1, No. 7, showing a featured picture and caption of the moment Buz Hello, the vice president and general manager of North American Rockwell’s Space Division and Launch Operations, presents the flag to Dr. Kurt Debus, the first director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Following Debus’s success during employment at Alabama’s Redstone Arsenal, the German-born rocket scientist and original member of the famed von Braun rocket development team, quickly became a peerless figurehead amongst NASA operations, conducting 150 launches of military missiles and space vehicles, which included: the first successful Earth-orbital satellite, Explorer 1, in 1958; the first US space probe that orbited the sun; the first flight of primates in a Jupiter rocket; the first two manned Mercury missions; and the first manned Apollo mission on an 11-day Earth-orbital flight in October 1968. Under Debus's leadership, all unmanned and manned Apollo/Saturn launch vehicles were launched from 1961-1973, including all the manned Apollo lunar landing missions. A one-of-a-kind flag commemorating the early Apollo era and presented directly to the KSC’s first director.
