[Pioneer 0/Able 1]

Originally from the personal collection of Dr. George E. Mueller (1918-2015).

GEORGE MUELLER'S CONSTANT REMINDER DURING SPACE RACE OF THE "NARROW PATH THAT LEADS TO SUCCESS."

A Historic Fragment of Humanity's First Attempt to Reach the Moon, Presented to the Father of the Manned Space Flight Program.

Pioneer 0, also referred to as Able 1, was humanity's first ever attempt to reach the Moon. The mission is a significant but often glossed over event in the history of space flight. The launch attempt occurred just over six months after the launch of America's first satellite, Explorer 1, but months before NASA was officially formed from NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics). As such, this mission was launched by the United States Air Force. Unfortunately, a booster rocket on the spacecraft malfunctioned and exploded 73 seconds into the launch, dooming the mission before it could leave Earth and rendering the launch date, August 17th, 1958, both the start and end of the mission.

This fragment was prepared for Dr. George Mueller, one of the most important figures in the Apollo program and a key to fulfilling the mission set forward by Pioneer 0. A typed note on the underside of the base states: "This fragment is one eighth of the only piece of the first Able-1 payload recovered from the Ocean at Cape Canaveral. I had it mounted, not to serve as a paper weight, but rather to serve as a reminder in the development of our future systems of the very narrow path that leads to success, and from which even the tiniest of deviations will fragment the dreams and bring to naught the tremendous labors of men."

Dr. Mueller is credited with creating and leading the Office of Manned Spaceflight at NASA Headquarters, what is now the Human Operations and Exploration Mission Directorate. Mueller was originally sworn in as Deputy Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight on September 1, 1963, but his title quickly changed to Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight after an internal reorganization and he remained in that role until he left NASA in December 1969. Dr. Mueller remained a mainstay of the American aerospace industry for over a decade after leaving NASA, and is remembered as the “Father of the Space Shuttle” and “the man who put men on the Moon.”