Jack Swigert was an astronaut aboard the infamous Apollo 13 mission. The Apollo 13 astronauts were famously beset by a mechanical problem in deep space and forced to execute a slingshot maneuver around the moon in order to return to earth safely. Swigert made the dramatic announcement to mission control, “Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here”, that was made famous by Tom Hanks’ performance in the film Apollo 13. The first item in this lot is a framed Apollo 13 patch flown to the moon aboard the Apollo 13 spacecraft. While the Apollo 13 mission never touched down on the moon due to their near-fatal technical problems, the astronauts on the Apollo 13 mission traveled farther away from the earth than any human in history. The patch is framed in a 16.5 x 13.5-inch display. Swigert has signed this display and inscribed a message that reads “To: Gary Condra in appreciation of a long valued friendship”.

The second item in this lot is an 8 x 10-inch photograph of the earth signed in black fine-tip marker by Swigert. Swigert inscribed “Bill – It’s some ‘ride’ that gives you this view” and “Regards” in addition to his signature. The framed display comes with a LOA from Steve Grad of Beckett Authentication (A69264), while the photograph is accompanied by a COA from Beckett (F62018).

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