Flown embroidered Apollo 14 backup crew patch featuring the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoon characters, measuring 4″ in diameter, with "Beep Beep" at the top and the surnames of the backup crew members along the bottom, signed twice and flight-certified on the reverse in black felt tip by the backup commander, "Flown to the Moon, Gene Cernan, Gene Cernan," and also signed by the mission's LMP, "Edgar Mitchell." Reverse also bears an affixed A-B Emblem Corp. label. In fine condition.
Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Novaspace signed by Cernan, as well as a detailed signed letter of provenance from Cernan, in part: "This is to certify that the accompanying 'Beep-Beep' Patch was flown aboard the Apollo 14 Command Module 'Kitty Hawk' to the Moon from January 31st to February 9th, 1971. The accompanying 'Beep-Beep' Backup Crew Patch was stowed aboard the Apollo 14 Command Module 'Kitty Hawk' as a practical joke by Ron Evans, Joe Engle and myself. As the backup crewmembers for Apollo 14, we trained the prime crew to the best of our abilities. We also devised a unique backup crew patch to let the prime crew (Alan Shepard, Stu Roosa and Edgar Mitchell) know that we were training hard to take their place on the flight. Designed as a motivational tool, the patch portrays Wiley E. Coyote representing mission commander Alan Shepard and the prime crew. The roadrunner, uttering his famous 'Beep Beep,' stands on the moon representing our backup crew waiting for the prime crew to catch up. As backup crew, we had access to the spacecraft, so we hid these patches in every nook and cranny. During the flight, every time the prime crew opened a compartment, out floated a Beep Beep patch, much to the annoyance of the crew…Today, this patch endures both as a precious memento of mankind's first Apollo lunar voyages, and as a fully documented lunar artifact returned to the Earth from the moon." Also includes photographs of Gene Cernan and Edgar Mitchell holding the patch.
This item is Pre-Certified by STEVE ZARELLI
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