FLOWN Apollo 14 Back up Crew Patch A 4 inch slightly ellipti

Sale 2073 - Lot 187

Price Realized: $ 2,760

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 3,500 - $ 4,500

FLOWN Apollo 14 Back-up Crew Patch. A 4-inch slightly elliptical cloth patch mounted on a Typed Letter Signed by Gordon Cooper. The patch has the names of the Apollo 14 back-up crew: Cernan, Evans, and Engle. They were the only Apollo back-up crew to have a patch. NASA/MSC, 1971

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Designed as a "gotcha" for Apollo 14 commander Alan Shepard. Cooper's letter reads in part: "This patch illustrates the good-natured 'rivalry' between the prime and back-up crews. As cartoon character Wile E. Coyote rockets up from earth representing Shepard, Roosa, and Mitchell; he finds that the Road Runner is already on the Moon with a U.S. flag and a "1st Team" banner. The "1st Team" was the back-up crew's nickname. The back-up crew made sure this and a few more identical patches were hidden in compartments or manuals which began to float free during the flight. Al Shepard responded to this 'gotcha' during the flight saying - 'Tell Cernan, Beep Beep Your Ass!' via a private communications loop."