December 2020 Auction Ends Thursday, December 10th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/10/2020
Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke signed handwritten essay, with interesting content regarding the protocol for delaying an Apollo mission, and with the specific example of how his diagnosis with German measles almost postponed the Apollo 13 mission, keeping ''this beauty from lifting off'', as he writes. Composed on his personal Apollo stationery, essay reads in full,
''Don't let anything happen that will keep this beauty from lifting off. A delay usually resulted in at least a month postponement and during that month, any thing could happen. You might get sick - just a cold would do it or an ankle sprain - anything, and you would be removed from the flight crew and replaced by your backup. A million things could happen to you and you wouldn't get to go at all. I had first hand knowledge of this because as a backup crewman on the Apollo 13 mission, this very thing happened. In fact it had been my fault. A week or so before 13 was to launch I became very ill. The diagnosis was German measles. Unfortunately, before any symptoms had appeared, I had exposed all the prime and backup crew. The rest of the crew were given tests, and it was determined that of the prime crew Lovell and Haise were immune, but Mattingly was not. The doctors recommended Mattingly be removed. NASA had a big decision to make. Should the mission be delayed or should backup Jack Swigert step in with only a few to go? The decision was made to substitute and press on. I had felt terrible about it, but Ken was a good sport and never blamed me for missing the flight. In fact, he was a key player in saving the flight after the accident. / Charlie Duke / APOLLO 13 BACKUP LMP / APOLLO 16 MOONWALKER''.
Apollo 16 Moonwalker Charlie Duke Handwritten Essay -- ''...A week or so before 13 was to launch I became very ill...German measles...I had exposed all the prime and backup crew...''
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