TLS signed “Jim,” two pages, 7.5 x 10.5, NASA letterhead, August 6, 1969. Letter to Wisconsin Governor Warren P. Knowles, in part: "The shouting is all over and the crew is safely tucked in their isolation compartments waiting for lunar bugs to show themselves (which I am sure will never happen), and I am finally digging through paperwork that piled up due to the extensive training of Apollo 11. I have to admit that being on the backup crew was one of the most exciting training experiences I have been through. It certainly would have been wonderful to have been able to make that flight, but it would have been hard to equal the performance of Neil Armstrong and his crew…Confidentially, I have one further flight assignment which has not yet been announced; this will be a lunar flight around the spring of next year. The completion of this flight will have fulfilled my ambitions in our space program, and I will then be giving serious consideration to other areas where I can be of service to my country." Lovell adds his initials, "JAL," to a handwritten postscript: "PS. Just after I wrote this letter the crew assignment was announced by Dr. Paine." In fine condition, with inexplicably irregularly trimmed borders. When Deke Slayton's originally suggested crew of Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell was rejected by NASA management—Shepard needed more time to train following surgery on an inner ear disorder—the Apollo 11 backup crew of James Lovell, Ken Mattingly, and Fred Haise was assigned as the prime crew for Apollo 13.
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