Set of three igniter connectors used for the historic launch of John Glenn’s Friendship 7 spacecraft. The connectors, each measuring 1.25 x 1.25, were clipped inside the thrusters of the Mercury 6 launch vehicle, Atlas 109-D, and are marked on their sides: “Bendix” and “SCO6P-14S-7S.” In overall fine, used condition. Accompanied by a signed letter of authenticity from Joseph M. Keane, a missile mechanic at General Dynamics-Astronautics, which reads, in part: “The three connectors in this box were plugged into the launcher structure of Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral…The igniter and wire harness assemblies were burned and blown away as the sustainer and two booster engines started and lifted John Glenn on his voyage to orbit the earth.” Also accompanied by a laminated Certificate of Participation card from General Dynamics-Astronautics, issued to Keane, which certifies that he “was a member of the team which launched the first American Astronaut Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, Jr., USMC into orbit around the earth.”
