[PROJECT MERCURY]. DR. MAX FAGET EARLY SPACE COLLECTION OF BOOKS AND BOOKLETS

Dr. Maxime "Max" A. Faget (1921–2004) received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Louisiana State University in 1943, then served as a U.S. Navy submarine officer in the South Pacific during World War II. After the war, he joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in 1946. When NACA became NASA in 1958, he was heavily involved in Project Mercury as the lead spacecraft designer and developed the concept for the Mercury escape rocket which was later applied during the Apollo Program. His next work was in the development of the Space Shuttle during the very late 1960’s and early 1970’s. During his career he wrote or co-author dozens of technical papers and books on many topics relating to aircraft, rocketry, spacecraft design and reentry. Dr. Faget retired from NASA in 1981. This collection includes: 1) DUTTON, BENJAMIN. Navigation and Nautical Astronomy. Annapolis, United States Naval Institute, 1942. Cloth. A textbook used Faget at LSU, SIGNED and INSCRIBED on the front end cover: “MAX A. FAGET, Louisiana State University.” 2) PURSER, PAUL E., MAXIME A. FAGET, and NORMAN F. SMITH editors. Manned Spacecraft: Engineering Design and Operation. New York, Fairchild Publications, 1964, second printing 1965. Cloth. The technical “bible” on space vehicles. With Dr. Faget’s home address label taped onto the front end paper. 3) BOND, ALECK C. and MAXIME A. FAGET. Technologies of Manned Space Systems. New York: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, 1965. Cloth with dust jacket. Includes details on Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. INSCRIBED and SIGNED: “To Max, Best Wishes, Aleck” (Bond). 4) CARPENTER, M. SCOTT, ET AL. We Seven, By the Astronauts Themselves. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1962. Original cloth with dust jacket, book club edition. Covers numerous topics on Project Mercury. SIGNED by SCOTT CARPENTER, GORDON COOPER, and WALLY SCHIRRA on the preliminary blank with the Simon and Schuster logo. 5) BEACH, EDWARD L. Dust on the Beach. New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. Original cloth with dust jacket. Submarine novel. SIGNED by MAX FAGET on the half title page. 6) Hearings Before the NASA Authorization Subcommittee of the Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, United States Senate. Washington, U.S. Gov’t Printing Office (GPO), 1959. Green paper wraps. Transcripts of Dr. Faget’s testimony on Mercury during April 1959. Hand printed by Dr. FAGET: “Max Faget, Mercury testimony” on the front cover. 7) FAGET, MAX. Los Vuelos Espaciales Tripulados (The Manned Spaceflights). Santiago de Chile, Editorial Pomaire, 1968. Paper wraps. Dr. Faget’s well known 1965 book, published in Spanish. 8) Three NASA and NASA SP Publications, all Washinton: GPO. Aeronautical Dictionary. 1959. Cloth with “Flight Systems Division” (Faget’s Group) stamped on the front end cover. SP-4202, Vanguard - A History. 1970. Yellow paper wraps with “EA/M.A. Faget” printed on front cover. SP-168, Exploring Space with a Camera, 1968, Edgar Cortright editor. Cloth. INSCRIBED and SIGNED: “To Max Faget, With deep appreciation for your contributions to the space program and to the book, ED CORTRIGHT” on the preliminary blank. 9) Fourteen NASA and other photo filled booklets/pamphlets with titles of: Astronaut John H. Glenn Orbits the Earth for America; Mercury Astronauts and flight photographs, half-tone stapled picture set; Historical Origins of NASA, in blue half-tone; American in Space, the First Five Years NASA EP-14; Mercury Program Summary, October 1963; This is NASA EP-22; Historical Sketch of NASA EP-29; NASA Astronauts Launch Operations Center – SATURN; Astronaut Training – MSC Fact Sheet 290; Manned Spaceflight: Projects Mercury and Gemini NASA Facts; NASA Astronauts SP-34; Clarity in Technical Reporting, SP-7010; Man in Space Dictionary by Martin Caidin; and Partners in Progress by the Aerospace Corp.