[Apollo 12]

A GRUMMAN AEROSPACE GOLD TIE PIN, FLOWN ON APOLLO 12 AND GIVEN TO APOLLO ASTRONAUT THOMAS STAFFORD.

Originally distributed by Jack Buxton, the Grumman representative in Houston, these gold pins (approx. 50) were given to the Apollo Flight Crew, Flight Directors, and Grumman and North American Rockwell Managers. A brass version (approx. 500) was distributed to NASA Flight Operations and Apollo Program Office personal, as well as Grumman employees who worked on the Lunar Module.

After this pin was flown on Apollo 12, it was then presented to Apollo astronaut Thomas Stafford. Stafford’s letter printed on his USAF Flag Rank stationery reads: “This golden medallion displayed below was carried to the Moon’s surface inside Lunar Module Intrepid during the flight of Apollo XII. Astronauts Charles “Pete” Conrad and Alan Bean made mankind’s second lunar landing on the Ocean of Storms. The medallion was on the lunar surface some 31 ½ hours during November 19-20, 1969.

The medallion features a cratered lunar surface with a United States flag at the upper right side and is approximately ¾ of an inch in diameter. The reverse side reads: “FLOWN TO THE MOON BY AN INTREPID CREW NOVEMBER 1969 CONRAD GORDON BEAN.” A pair of navy aviator wings is above the crew names.

Pete Conrad was given a total of 50 of these medallions to carry on the flight by Tommy Attridge, a Grumman Lunar Module supervisor. Grumman was the Lunar Module prime contractor for NASA. After the medallions were returned to Earth, most had a post centered and soldered on the back to enable their use as a tie tack.

Pete was kind enough to present me with the medallion displayed above after his flight. It was a thank you for my efforts in supporting Apollo XII while I served as Chief of Astronaut Office, Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Texas starting in the summer of 1969.

Flying along with Pete and Al, was Richard Gordon, the Command Module Pilot for Apollo XII. He stayed in lunar orbit while Pete and Al landed and explored the lunar surface for some eight hours on two separate lunar Extravehicular Activities (EVA). Apollo XII flight occurred between November 14 and 24, 1969.

Apollo XII was the second of six successful lunar landings during the Apollo Program. I had the honor of testing the first Lunar Module in lunar orbit during May 1969. My flight verified the orbital maneuvers and other techniques to enable the first lunar landing by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin less than three months later on July 20, 1969.”

REFERENCES:

Bostick, Jerry. The Kid from Golden: From the Cotton Fields of Mississippi to NASA Mission Control and Beyond. iUniverse, 2016