A 1p autograph letter signed by American astronaut Fred W. Haise, Jr. (born 1933), signed as "Fred Haise" at lower right. On a sheet of "Northrop Grumman" stationery with Haise's name "Fred Haise" pre-printed at lower right. Dated October 5, 1996. N.p. Without any paper folds, and near pristine. 4.875" x 7.875."

Retired NASA astronaut Fred Haise, then an executive at the aerospace and defense contracting company Northrop Grumman, wrote a correspondent named "Dr. K" about his career as an astronaut. In full:

"10/5/96

Dear Dr. K.,

I assume that is what you go by since there was no first name in your correspondence or on the return.

After Apollo 13, I was assigned as the Backup crew commander to John Young on Apollo 16. That placed me in the lineup to command Apollo 19, then the last scheduled mission to the moon. However, both Apollo 18 & 19 were cancelled. Most of us would have liked to have flown every mission.

Regards

Fred Haise."

Haise had served as the Lunar Module Pilot of the ill-fated Apollo 13 space mission. The 3-person crew, comprised of Haise, Commander Jim A. Lovell, Jr. (born 1928), and Command Module Pilot Jack L. Swigert, Jr. (1931-1982), were earmarked to make the third ever moon landing during Apollo 13's mid-April 1970 space flight. Yet the mission was aborted after an oxygen tank in the spacecraft's service module exploded on April 14th, forcing the crew to transfer to the lunar module. The crew built ersatz equipment using existing materials to perform essential functions, like carbon dioxide filtering, and severely rationed supplies. Resilience, ingenuity, and outstanding communication between ground support and space enabled the astronauts to safely return to Earth on April 17th. Apollo 13 was, in the words of Commander Lovell, a most "successful failure."

Two years after the Apollo 13 mission, Haise was selected to serve as backup Commander of the Apollo 16 mission, which was eventually crewed by Commander John W. Young (1930-2018), Command Module Pilot Thomas K. Mattingly II (born 1936), and Lunar Module Pilot Charles M. Duke, Jr. (born 1935), during its 11-day mission to space (April 16 - 27, 1972). Haise was also under consideration to command the Apollo 19 mission, the penultimate lunar mission planned by NASA, slated to explore the Hyginus region of the moon. The Apollo program was discontinued after its last moon-landing mission, Apollo 17, was completed in December 1972.

Haise retired from NASA in 1979. In the private sector, Haise served first as a Vice President of Space Programs at Grumman Aerospace Corporation, and, after January 1992, as President of Technical Services at the Northrop Grumman Corporation. He retired from Northrop Grumman in 1996. The 88-year-old ex-astronaut is still extremely active to this day! (2022 at the time of this writing.)

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

WE PROVIDE IN-HOUSE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE!