1963 Exhibit Supply Co. : Astronauts and Spacecraft
The Astronauts and Spacecraft series was released by
The Exhibit Supply Co. (ESCO)
in 1963. The 32-card series features official NASA photographs from Project Mercury and Project Gemini. The American Card Catalog reference is W454.
The cards were dispensed from ESCO vending machines for two cents each. Complete sets were sold by distributors. Each card measures approximately 3.375 x 5.375 inches, smaller than a standard postcard. The back of each Astronauts and Spacecraft card contains a typewritten description.
The cards were dispensed from ESCO vending machines for two cents each. Complete sets were sold by distributors. Each card measures approximately 3.375 x 5.375 inches, smaller than a standard postcard. The back of each Astronauts and Spacecraft card contains a typewritten description.
"The Mercury spacecraft, Freedom 7, is shown here with the escape tower and retrorockets. The capsule has a height of 9 feet and a 74- inch width at the base. Its weight is approximately one ton. The basic structural materials are titanium, berylium, and nickel-base alloys. The escape tower is comprised of a 14-foot tubular system attached to the top of the capsule by explosive bolts. Three retrorockets enclosed in a housing on the blunt end of the capsule are designed to provide reverse propulsion and slow the capsule in orbit by about 500 feet per second so that it will drop out of orbit."
"On May 5, 1961, Alan B. Shepard Jr. made America's first man-in-space flight in the Freedom 7 capsule shown here. Launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, he traveled 302 miles and attained a height of 116.5 miles."
Card #19 depicts "The Original Seven Project Mercury Astronauts" in a press
photograph from April 9, 1959.
(Front Row L–R) Walter H. Schirra, Jr., Donald K. Slayton, John H. Glenn,
Jr., Scott Carpenter (Back Row L–R) Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Virgil I. Gus
Grissom, L. Gordon Cooper
| Astronauts and Spacecraft | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar |
| 2 | USAF Discoverer 24 (Corona 9018A) Launch, July 7, 1961 |
| 3 | Project Gemini Spacecraft |
| 4 | Echo 1 |
| 5 | Project Mercury Ballistic Capsule |
| 6 | Pioneer 5 |
| 7 | Orbiting Solar Observatory OSO-1 |
| 8 | Ranger 4 |
| 9 | TIROS-5 |
| 10 | Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Freedom 7 |
| 11 | Alan B. Shepard, Jr. |
| 12 | Mercury-Redstone 3 Launch, May 5, 1961 |
| 13 | Virgil "Gus" Grissom |
| 14 | Liberty Bell 7 Recovery |
| 15 | Mercury-Redstone 4: Liberty Bell 7 Launch, July 21, 1961 |
| 17 | Malcolm Scott Carpenter |
| 18 | Mercury-Atlas 7: Aurora 7 Launch, May 24, 1962 |
| 19 | The Original Seven Project Mercury Astronauts |
| 20 | Walter M. Schirra, Jr. |
| 21 | Mercury-Atlas 6 Launch, February 20, 1962 |
| 22 | John Herschell Glenn, Jr. |
| 23 | Saturn C-1, October 27. 1961 |
| 24 | Walter M. Schirra, Jr. |
| 25 | Explorer 7 Launch, October 13, 1959 |
| 26 | Mercury-Redstone 3: Freedom 7 |
| 27 | Mariner 1 Spacecraft Model |
| 28 | Earth, Friendship 7, February 20, 1962 |
| 29 | Atlas-Centaur |
| 30 | TIROS |
| 31 | Project Mercury: Little Joe 1 Launch, August 21, 1959 |
| 32 | Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr. |