Skylab In Orbit Photo Signed By All Nine Crew Members

Measuring 19.5" x 15.5" (sight), No place, undated. A large color photograph of the Skylab in orbit, matted and framed to the overall size of 21.5" x 25.5". Signed by astronauts "Owen Garriott", "Joe Kerwin", "Jerry Carr", "Ed Gibson", "Bill Pogue", "Charles Conrad", "Alan Bean", "Paul Weitz", and "Jack Lousma." Inscribed to NASA Russian instructor-interpreter, Anatole Forostenko, "To Anatole Forostenko with best wishes from the Skylab crews!" There is some light toning and soiling to the mat, with all bold signatures.

The signed photograph is accompanied by a Skylab Earth Resources Data Catalog. Houston: NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, 1974. Measuring 8" x 10", x, 359pp. Chapters one through eight were written by the personnel of the Denver Division of the Martin Marietta Corporation. With charts, diagrams, tables, and photographs (black and white and color) throughout. At the back are five Sensor Coverage Summary foldout maps: S-190A, S-190B, S-191, S-192, and S-193. These illustrate Skylab's voyage around our Earth. Maps are very attractive and suitable for framing. The volume cover edges are toned and soiled, while the internal pages have faint edge soiling and toning. Overall very fine. Provenance: From the collection of Anatole Forostenko, Chief Russian Language Instructor-Interpreter for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission.

Skylab was the first space station the United States launched into orbit, and the second space station to be visited by a human crew. It was launched in May 1973 and remained in use until July 1979, when it fell to earth due to low fuel and lack of needed repairs. Over the course of its six-year use, it was operated by three separate crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab4. Hundreds of experiments were conducted onboard, as well as solar and Earth observations.

Dr. Anatole Forostenko (b. 1939) was born in the Soviet Union and moved to the U.S. in 1949. He studied at Rutgers University and Indiana University before gaining his Ph.D. from Bryn Mawr. From 1970 to 1973, Forostenko was an Assistant Professor of Russian Language and Literature at the University of California. He then joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1974 and became involved in the Apollo-Soyuz test project. He became the Chief Russian Language Instructor for the NASA astronauts, preparing them to communicate with cosmonauts during the mission, and he worked closely with both crews as instructor-interpreter. Often, he worked in one-on-one situations with General Thomas P. Stafford and Vance Brand. During the Apollo-Soyuz mission, Forostenko served as one of three U.S. Air-to-Ground interpreters at the Johnson Space Center Mission Control Center. Upon completion of the mission, he traveled with the crew members and their families on the post-flight Soviet Good Will Tour and has remained in close contact with those involved.

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.

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