Edgar Mitchell’s flown ‘Astronaut with ALSEP’ emblem that was carried to the lunar surface on the Lunar Module Antares during the Apollo 14 mission. The small emblem, which measures .75˝ x .75˝ and depicts an astronaut with an orange visor carrying the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP), is encased in a Lucite block, 2.5˝ x 2.75˝ x 2.5˝, with upper and lower golden text, “Apollo XIV, ALSEP, February 6, 1971.” The bottom of the block features additional NASA/Bendix caption text: “This emblem of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package being carried to its deployment site on Fra Mauro was taken to the surface of the Moon and returned to Earth on the Apollo XIV spacecraft by Astronauts Shepard, Roosa and Mitchell. February 5, 1971." In fine condition, with some scuffing to the caption.
The Bendix Aerospace Company, selected by NASA to design and manufacture the ALSEP, produced a small quantity of these metallic emblems to be given as gifts once they were returned to Earth. Mitchell carried the emblems to the moon in his Personal Preference Kit (PPK), then returned them to Bendix to be transformed into these Lucite presentations commemorating the successful deployment of the ALSEP. The Apollo 14 ALSEP carried an Active Seismic Experiment, Suprathermal Ion Detector Experiment, and Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator, which Mitchell helped to place and operate on the lunar surface at Fra Mauro. As a testament to its durable construction, the Apollo 14 ALSEP station continued to broadcast experimental data until 1977.
Accompanied by a letter of authenticity from Karlyn Mitchell, the daughter of Edgar Mitchell.
