Amazing flown NASA Beta cloth patch, 4 x 3.5, worn on the right shoulder of Worden’s spacesuit during the entirety of the Apollo 15 mission. Due to its heavy use and exposure to the vacuum of deep space during Worden’s 38-minute extra-vehicular activity, the patch exhibits expected overall creases and wrinkles. Accompanied by a detailed letter of provenance signed by Worden, in part: “As a part of my spacesuit, this NASA Insignia patch accompanied me into lunar orbit. The NASA emblem patch also was attached to my spacesuit during my cislunar spacewalk (EVA) during our return to Earth. My EVA was the first of only three spacewalks performed outside Earth orbit and it’s protective magnetosphere...After their return from the lunar surface, Dave Scott and Jim Irwin unloaded the rock boxes and other equipment from the lunar module and passed those items to me in the command module. During the transfer, the CM filled with lunar dust that ultimately soiled my spacesuit and, in turn, the suit patches. The dark stains on the United States flag patch are indeed lunar dust.” Also accompanied by photos of Worden with the patch and letter. An extraordinary flown piece featuring NASA’s iconic insignia worn during humanity’s first deep-space EVA. The Leon Ford Collection.
