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Flown
Backup Crew Patch From Gene Cernan
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Flown
Backup Crew Patch Back View
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This
artifact is one of the infamous Apollo 14 backup crew patches. It
flew on Apollo 14 having been smuggled on board by the technicians
preparing the spacecraft for flight.
This artifact was put up for auction by Novaspace in June, 2004 on
behalf of Astronaut Eugene Cernan. It is from that Astro Auction
that the Earth To The Moon Air & Space Museum acquired this
artifact.
The patch has been signed on the back by Astronaut Cernan to certify
that it flew on Apollo 14.
The patch is also accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed
by Astronaut Cernan. The certificate of authenticity states, "Apollo
14 'Beep Beep' Patch Flown to the Moon. Apollo 14 was the only
flight to have a patch made for the backup team.
After the Apollo
13 near-tragedy, Alan Shepard, Apollo 14 commander and the backup team
of Cernan, Evans, and Engle worked very closely together. The
joke was that the 'veterans' (roadrunner) would already be waiting on
the moon when the 'three rookies' (the gray-bearded coyote representing
Shepard) arrived.
The backup patches were parodies of the Apollo
14 patch itself. These patches were stashed throughout the Apollo
14 spacecraft, including the LM, annoyingly hiding in notebooks and
lockers so that they would annoy and chide the crew. There was
even one in the tool carrier used on the lunar surface.
This
is one of the original flown backup crew patches. It was removed
from the spacecraft by technicians after the flight and returned to me.
Gene Cernan. Certified by Gene Cernan, CDR, Apollo 17" |
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