The 30 Minute Rule begins June 10 at 7:00 PM EDT. An Initial Bid Must Be Placed By June 10 at 6:00 PM EDT To Participate After 6:00 PM EDT
TLS signed “Walter Cunningham,” two pages, 8.5 x 11, personal letterhead, February 27, 2012. Letter to Richard Jurek, describing the first live television broadcast from space, which occurred on Apollo 7. In full: "Back in the 'good old days'—the Sixties and Seventies—some things were a little more casual than they are today. Mickey Kapp, a man in the music business in Hollywood, was a friend to several of the Mercury astronauts, and eventually to several others of us.
Mickey was particularly close to Wally Schirra, and he wrote music parodies for Wally's Gemini 6 mission as well as our Apollo 7 flight that were broadcast to the spacecraft by Mission Control. For Gemini, Jack Jones sang a parody of his recording of 'Favorite things.' For Apollo 7, it was a parody of Louis Armstrong's recording of 'Hello, Dolly,' which Mickey changed to 'Hello, Wally.'
Mickey was involved in various high jinx, but I remember him most for what he did to help our television broadcasts from space with the non-flammable cardboard given to him by NASA. During our preflight planning, we had the first onboard television broadcast scheduled for the third day in orbit. After launch, Mission Control decided, independently, that they would like to move it up to day two.
Unfortunately, by the second day, Wally's head cold and some minor onboard problems, left us struggling to keep up with the flight plan, and Mission Control's proposed change triggered Wally's first flare-up in the mission. 'I tell you,' he snapped, 'this in-flight TV will be delayed without further discussion.' That ended the debate and ground control agreed to let the broadcast go till the following day.
That was all the encouragement Wally needed in the rigid stand he took throughout the mission. It was also the only time his obstinacy was justified. We just plain weren't ready for a TV broadcast.
Wally had reason to be a little uptight and for canceling the early TV transmission. On day 2, we were concentrating on our rendezvous with the S-IVB, our second stage at launch. The rendezvous was being attempted without radar and the potential problems were too numerous to count. We fired the main engine twice: once to put our capsule in a position below and slightly behind the S-IVB and a second time to bring us close enough to accomplish the final match-up. It came off without a wrinkle. Donn took sightings with the guidance computer, while I made visual sightings for the backup charts, in case we needed them. Wally maneuvered to within 70 feet of the rocket and we flew alongside, in perfect formation, until it was time to break away.
By the third day, even Wally was willing to get into show business with the first live television broadcast from space. Eventually our daily television shows would become the entertainment highlight of the mission-both for the public and for us. Each show lasted seven to eleven minutes, and they came to be called "The Wally, Walt, and Donn Show." They were scheduled once each morning during a roughly 2,000-mile pass between Texas and Cape Kennedy, the only two ground stations equipped to receive the transmissions.
We began to ham it up and damn near brought back vaudeville. We began our broadcasts holding up a sign that read, 'Hello, from the lovely Apollo Room, high atop everything.' On one occasion, we displayed a sign that asked, 'Deke Slayton, are you a turtle?'
According to barroom tradition, Deke was required to answer, 'You bet your sweet ass I am,' or pay the penalty of buying a drink for everyone within earshot. Since Deke was sitting at the Capcom console, he was able to cop out by cutting off his microphone and recording the required answer. Paul Haney was not in a position to answer when we asked him the same question.
We were not exactly in a state of euphoria, but with the exception of those rare moments of tension and concern, our spirits remained high. Every innocent thought or act seemed to inspire some kind of reaction. When Wally held up another of our printed signs to the on-board TV camera—'Keep those cards and letters coming, folks'—in no time at all our CapCom radioed a frantic SOS from Wally's secretary. She was being swamped with mail.
The telecasts gave us a chance not only to check out the camera that would capture the first footsteps on the moon, but also to demonstrate to the people at home a few facts of space life. The shows were pretty much spontaneous, but as we approached communication contact for the broadcast we might exchange a few thoughts about what to do with the camera to make it interesting. One time, we performed acrobatics to provide a glimpse of weightlessness in action. We showed scenes out the spacecraft windows, catching glimpses of clouds and coastlines racing by. But our best show was done completely upside down on the home screens.
The television was an opportunity to have some fun and strip away some of the mystery of space. The shows also led to a special Emmy Award for the First Live Television From Space from The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences the following year." In very fine condition.
This item is Pre-Certified by STEVE ZARELLI
Buy a third-party letter of authenticity for
$25.00
*This item has been pre-certified by a trusted third-party authentication service, and by placing a bid on this item, you agree to accept the opinion of this authentication service. If you wish to have an opinion rendered by a different authenticator of your choosing, you must do so prior to your placing of any bid. RR Auction is not responsible for differing opinions submitted 30 days after the date of the sale.
Third-party authentication service applies only to signatures and handwriting, and does not cover the addition of sketches, artwork, musical quotations, etc.
