American naval officer, aviator and aeronautical engineer who was a NASA astronaut in the Apollo program (1935-1967). Autograph Letter Signed, 'Rog'. no place. 4to. 3 pp. Light crease and staple holes to upper left corner not affecting text or signature.
$ 3,708 / 3.500 €
(92041)
Rare letter to his parents [Mr & Mrs Donald Chaffee, Wyoming, Michigan], beginning with family talk and his wife Martha before continuing with details of his work, 'We are well into our training program now and quite busy. We are studying geology, mineralogy, petrology (study of rocks), flight mechanics (orbits, etc.), physics of the upper atmosphere, digital computers, bio-astronautics, and astronomy, plus we fly quite a bit and take field trips. I was at the Cape to watch the Saturn launch a couple of weeks ago and the 5th and 6th of March we are taking a geology field trip to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
That ought to be a good hike up and down', suggesting a good time for them to visit on vacation, telling that they sign the contract on their house the next week and other family matters. A rare autograph from an early Apollo astronaut. On 27 January 1967, a fire swept through the Apollo I Command Module during a launch rehearsal test, tragically killing all three astronauts trapped inside. They were Roger Chaffee, Gus Grissom and Ed White..