Astronaut Vance D. Brand [Inscribed color photograph]
Johnson Space Center, Texas [Presumed]: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1971. Presumed to have been uniquely signed in person. Photograph. The format is approximately 8 inches by 10 inches. There is a quarter inch white border around the color image. At the bottom edge in the white space there is the following text: ASTRONAUT VANCE D. BRAND. The color image is of the full face of Astronaut Brand in has astronaut space suit, showing him from the waist up. Near his ungloved hands is a globe of the earth. Internet research dated this picture as from 1971.. Across his chest he has inscribed the photograph as follows "To Randy with Best wishes! Vance Brand." The back of the photograph is blank. Vance DeVoe Brand (born May 9, 1931) is a retired American naval officer, aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. He served as command module pilot during the first U.S.-Soviet joint spaceflight in 1975, and as commander of three Space Shuttle missions. Brand's flight experience includes 9,669 flying hours, which includes 8,089 hours in jets, 391 hours in helicopters, 746 hours in spacecraft, and checkout in more than 30 types of military aircraft. One of the 19 pilot astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966, Brand initially was a crew member in the thermal vacuum chamber testing of the prototype command module (alongside astronauts Joe Engle and Dr. Joseph Kerwin) and support crewman on Apollos 8 and 13. During the Apollo 13 crisis, Brand was CAPCOM during the PC+2 burn. Later he was backup Command Module Pilot for Apollo 15, and was likely to be named to the prime crew of Apollo 18 before that mission was canceled. Brand was backup commander for Skylabs 3 and 4. When Skylab 3's CSM had problems with its Reaction Control System, Brand was put on standby to command a rescue mission with backup Pilot Don Lind; however, the crew stood down when it was decided that the problem did not require the rescue mission to be launched. As an astronaut, he held management positions relating to spacecraft development, acquisition, flight safety and mission operations. Brand flew on four space missions; Apollo–Soyuz, STS-5, STS-41-B, and STS-35. He commanded three missions. Brand was the last member of his astronaut class to remain active with NASA, and was the only Apollo-era astronaut to pilot the Space Shuttle in the post-Challenger era. Brand departed the Astronaut Office in 1992 to become Chief of Plans at the National Aerospace Plane (NASP) Joint Program Office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. In September 1994, he moved to California to become Assistant Chief of Flight Operations at the Dryden Flight Research Center, then Acting Chief Engineer, Deputy Director for Aerospace Projects, and Acting Associate Center Director for Programs. He retired from NASA in January 2008. Condition: Very good.
Keywords: Astronauts, Spaceflight, Spacecraft, NASA, Astronautics, Apollo-Soyuz, Space Shuttle
[Book #90735]
Price: $200.00