Collection of 12 complete official NASA manuals from the historic Apollo program, containing flight plans for all manned Apollo missions, with the exception of Apollo 8, and two manuals for the Space Race-ending Apollo–Soyuz Test Project. The front cover of each manual or flight plan is signed by one or more astronauts from the respective mission, with four examples signed by the full mission crew (Apollo 9, 10, 15, and 16), and others signed by notable figures from mission control and recovery operations, namely legendary Chief Flight Director Gene Kranz. The majority are unbound and housed in three-ring binders, and many bear ownership notations to covers or opening pages. The manuals, presented chronologically, are as follows:
Apollo 7
Official NASA flight plan for the Apollo 7 mission, signed on the front cover in black felt tip by Walt Cunningham, who adds above, “Apollo 7 was the most ambitious first flight undertaken. John’s first Mercury mission was less than five hours, and the first Gemini did no better. Apollo 7 was our second longest space mission, and it was our first step to the moon.” The cover is entitled “Preliminary Flight Plan, Apollo 7,” dated May 31, 1968.
Apollo 9
Official NASA flight plan for the Apollo 9 mission, signed on the front cover in black felt tip by Dave Scott and Rusty Schweickart, and in green felt tip by Jim McDivitt. The cover is entitled “Final Apollo 9 Flight Plan, AS-504 / CSM-104 / LM-3,” dated February 3, 1969.
Apollo 10
Official NASA flight plan for the Apollo 10 mission, signed on the front cover in black felt tip by Gene Cernan, John Young, and Tom Stafford. The cover is also signed by crew secretary Jamye Flowers Coplin, Navy frogman and Apollo recovery diver Wes Chesser, and Chuck Smiley, recovery helicopter pilot. The cover is entitled “Final Apollo 10 Flight Plan, AS-505 / CSM-106 / LM-4,” dated April 17, 1969.
Apollo 11
Staple-bound official NASA flight plan for the Apollo 11 mission, signed on the front cover in black ink and felt tip by Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin, who adds “Apollo XI LMP,” Chief Flight Director Gene Kranz, and astronauts Charlie Duke and Bruce McCandless II, who both write “Apollo 11 CAPCOM,” with Duke adding the inscription, “To Mike – Dream, Aim High!” The cover, which is also signed by other NASA personnel involved with recovery and quarantine operations, is entitled “Final Apollo 11 Flight Plan, AS-506 / CSM-107 / LM-5,” dated July 1, 1969.
Apollo 12
Official NASA flight plan for the Apollo 12 mission, signed prominently on the front cover in blue felt tip by Alan Bean, who adds “LMP.” The cover is entitled “Final, Apollo 12 Flight Plan, AS-507 / CSM-108 / LM-6,” dated October 15, 1969.
Apollo 13
Official NASA flight plan for the Apollo 13 mission, signed and inscribed on the front cover in black felt tip, “To Mike, Read and remember a ‘great’ mission, James Lovell,” “Fred Haise, Apollo 13 LMP,” and “Eugene F. Kranz,” who writes above, “‘Failure was not an option!” The cover is entitled “Final Apollo 13 Flight Plan, AS-508 / CSM-109 / LM-7,” dated March 16, 1970.
Apollo 14
Stapled official NASA flight plan for the Apollo 14 mission, signed on the front cover in black felt tip by Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell. The cover is entitled “Apollo 14 (Jan 31, 1971), AS-509 / CSM-110 / LM-8, Final (January 31, 1971), Flight Plan,” dated December 2, 1970.
Apollo 15
Official NASA flight plan for the Apollo 15 mission, signed on the front cover in black felt tip by Dave Scott and Jim Irwin, and in blue ballpoint by Al Worden. The cover is entitled “Apollo 15 (July 26, 1971) AS-510 / CSM-112 / LM-10, Preliminary Flight Plan,” dated April 20, 1971.
Apollo 16
Official NASA flight plan for the Apollo 16 mission, signed on the front cover in black felt tip by John Young and Ken Mattingly, and in black ballpoint by Charlie Duke. The cover is entitled “Apollo 16, March 17 Launch, Preliminary Flight Plan,” dated December 6, 1971, with the boxed caption above, “Do Not Discard, This Copy Baseline for April 16 & May 15 Launch.”
Apollo 17
Official NASA flight plan for the Apollo 17 mission, signed on the front cover in black felt tip by Gene Cernan. The cover is entitled “Apollo 17, Final Flight Plan,” dated October 23, 1972, with the boxed caption above, “Do Not Discard, This Copy Baseline for All Launch Dates.”
Apollo–Soyuz Test Project
Official NASA flight plans for the Apollo–Soyuz international space mission, entitled “ASTP, July 15 Launch, Final Flight Plan,” signed on the cover page in black ballpoint by Vance Brand and in blue ballpoint by Tom Stafford, and “Apollo Soyuz Test Project, Preliminary, Joint Crew Activities Plan, USA-USSR,” signed on the cover in blue ballpoint by Stafford, and in black felt tip by Alexei Leonov. Includes three commemorative covers with stamped ASTP cachets, one signed by Isom ‘Ike’ Rigell, former chief engineer and deputy director of the Apollo Space Program, and two signed by Clarence ‘Skip’ Chauvin, manager of the Command and Service Module (CSM) Test Conductor office.
In overall fine condition, with varying degrees of edgewear, and the Apollo 11 cover detached from the stapled manual.
