Veterans of Foreign Wars
National Space Award Medal awarded to Dr. George Mueller
Auction Closed
July 15, 04:56 PM GMT
Estimate
6,000 - 9,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Dr. George Mueller
10 Karat gold Veterans of Foreign Wars National Space Award Medal, New York, 1968. 52 mm diameter, 98 g. Obverse with an astronaut wearing a helmet beside a rocket and a planetary body on their right. Another smaller planetary body, potentially a moon, is on the astronaut's left. Designer's mark reading ABRAM BELSKIE Sc, on the astronaut's left. . Inscription reads: "Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States / Space Award." Reverse is engraved: "Dr. George Edwin Mueller." Rim is engraved with maker's mark: "Medallic Art Company /10K." In presentation measuring 9.25 x 12.25 inches with a plaque engraved "Dr. George Edwin Mueller / 1968."
Originally from the personal collection of Dr. George E. Mueller (1918-2015).
VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS SPACE AWARD MEDAL PRESENTED TO DR. GEORGE E. MUELLER FOR HIS WORK ON THE APOLLO PROGRAM.
Hailed as “The Man who put Men on the Moon” and the “Father of the Manned Spacecraft Program,” Dr. George Mueller played a pivotal role at NASA from 1963-1969. He 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. Mueller led the Office of Manned Spaceflight at NASA Headquarters, what is now the Human Operations and Exploration Mission Directorate. In this role, he shaped all operations leading to the fulfillment of President Kennedy’s ambitious goal of a lunar landing by the end of the decade.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars are one of the oldest major veterans' organizations in the United States. Dr. Mueller was awarded the space medal in 1968, the year in which Apollo 8 made humanity's first journey to the Moon and the captured the very first Earthrise seen by human eyes.
Renowned pioneer of spaceflight Dr. Werner Von Braun commented, “Without George Mueller, we would not have landed on the moon as soon as we did.” Mueller set and managed the schedule for the entire program and ensured that the costs of landing men on the Moon, when accounting for inflation, were exactly the same as projected at the outset of the program six years before.