I was visiting my brother-in-law and his lovely wife today when I saw that their son was working on a school project ......
What caught my eye was a complete set of mission badges for every Mercury, Gemini and Apollo mission
These were very old looking
I then started looking at the collection of memorabilia on the table and realised I was looking at history as it happened. The table was covered in badges, patches and medallions for every moon mission, AND these were not replicas but the real deal. I saw certificates of appreciation signed by the very top echelon of NASA from the 1960s to 1980.
The collection was put together by my sister-in-law's father from personal gifts from his time with the Gemini and Apollo Missions at Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station.
Among these treasures I saw a series of black and white photographs which are the actual first photographs taken of Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin on the moon..... taken by him from the monitors at Honeysuckle Creek as the images were being beamed down from the moon.
My missed opportunity was that I knew this fine gentleman socially for a more than a decade but never knew of his working life. He only ever spoke of family affairs.
Apparently there are many more items which I hope to see very soon .......
... with the real deal.
