Jorgeenriqueaguilera
Well-Known Member
Gents,
Continuing with some historic pieces, today I wanted to share this selection that is a small part of a bigger USAF/NASA grouping.
The group belonged to Col. Kenneth "Ken" Beers. He was a veteran of the Vietnam War, serving with the famed 8th Tactical Fighter Wing "Wolf Pack," in the 433rd Tactical Fighter Squadron "Satan's Angels," engaging in combat operations over Southeast Asia.
During his time at NASA, Ken served as Flight Surgeon to the Gemini Project, Team Leader of the Gemini Recovery Medical Team, Apollo Mission Flight Surgeon, and Mission Control for Apollo 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11.
He also helped the space agency develop instruments to monitor astronauts' vital signs while in flight, including pulse rate and body temperature and to relay those figures to the space agency's control center in Houston.
On July 20, 1969, Beers sat behind a console at mission control, watching his devices work on the Moon for the first time.
He has the distinction of being the first person in the world to know Neil Armstrong's heart rate when Armstrong set foot on the Moon for the first time.
As soon as Armstrong stepped on lunar soil, Beers read Armstrong's heart rate - emitted from Beers' console onto graph paper - and rushed the paper over to the flight director. Beers was elated that his machine had worked, despite the distance of 240,000 miles from Earth to the Moon.
Armstrong's pulse rate was 120 beats per minute, almost twice his rate at rest.
"I would think a good part of that was excitement," Beers said. "It was to be expected."
He called the Apollo 11 program "the most exciting moment of my life."
Needless to say, Beers' work was vital for the missions, therefore he received the Legion of Merit with one oak leaf, the USAF's second highest award of achievement for his work with the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, NASA Gemini and Apollo Achievement Awards, and the Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters.
Beers died at the age of 87, on September 20, 2017, in Vandalia, Ohio. Four years ago today.
The main piece of the group of course is this extremely rare NASA Fosterwear flight suit from Mercury/Gemini Era made by Lou Foster. This company was among a small number of contractors who made massive numbers of uniforms for the Air Force and Navy.
This flight suit has an interesting trimmed design, which in my opinion provides an elite look (what you would expect the heroes from that era to look like). It comes with numerous pockets (many with zipper closings), and velcro closings on the cloth waist belt, the cuffs, and the lower legs.
The condition of this example is great. No rips or stains but shows some dirt from being stored over 50 years.
Left chest depicts the extremely scarce Type II NASA meatball "vector" patch.
The HGU-2A/P is customized by NASA. They repositioned the receivers and installed the leather liner in it.
The condition is pretty good considering it is over 50 years old, and shows that it saw lots of action during its service.
The back of the helmet depicts the Gemini, NASA and Apollo stickers, showing some honest wear.
The AN/URT-33 Survival Beacon Radio was used for locating downed pilots. The pilot talks to the rescue team by help of his SAR radio. The device normally was activated at bailout and sent a signal for quick location of the pilot.
I can only imagine the adventures these elements endured during one of the most important achievements of mankind.
Hope you guys enjoy them.
Regards,
Jorge
Continuing with some historic pieces, today I wanted to share this selection that is a small part of a bigger USAF/NASA grouping.
The group belonged to Col. Kenneth "Ken" Beers. He was a veteran of the Vietnam War, serving with the famed 8th Tactical Fighter Wing "Wolf Pack," in the 433rd Tactical Fighter Squadron "Satan's Angels," engaging in combat operations over Southeast Asia.
During his time at NASA, Ken served as Flight Surgeon to the Gemini Project, Team Leader of the Gemini Recovery Medical Team, Apollo Mission Flight Surgeon, and Mission Control for Apollo 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11.
He also helped the space agency develop instruments to monitor astronauts' vital signs while in flight, including pulse rate and body temperature and to relay those figures to the space agency's control center in Houston.
On July 20, 1969, Beers sat behind a console at mission control, watching his devices work on the Moon for the first time.
He has the distinction of being the first person in the world to know Neil Armstrong's heart rate when Armstrong set foot on the Moon for the first time.
As soon as Armstrong stepped on lunar soil, Beers read Armstrong's heart rate - emitted from Beers' console onto graph paper - and rushed the paper over to the flight director. Beers was elated that his machine had worked, despite the distance of 240,000 miles from Earth to the Moon.
Armstrong's pulse rate was 120 beats per minute, almost twice his rate at rest.
"I would think a good part of that was excitement," Beers said. "It was to be expected."
He called the Apollo 11 program "the most exciting moment of my life."
Needless to say, Beers' work was vital for the missions, therefore he received the Legion of Merit with one oak leaf, the USAF's second highest award of achievement for his work with the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, NASA Gemini and Apollo Achievement Awards, and the Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters.
Beers died at the age of 87, on September 20, 2017, in Vandalia, Ohio. Four years ago today.
The main piece of the group of course is this extremely rare NASA Fosterwear flight suit from Mercury/Gemini Era made by Lou Foster. This company was among a small number of contractors who made massive numbers of uniforms for the Air Force and Navy.
This flight suit has an interesting trimmed design, which in my opinion provides an elite look (what you would expect the heroes from that era to look like). It comes with numerous pockets (many with zipper closings), and velcro closings on the cloth waist belt, the cuffs, and the lower legs.
The condition of this example is great. No rips or stains but shows some dirt from being stored over 50 years.
Left chest depicts the extremely scarce Type II NASA meatball "vector" patch.
The HGU-2A/P is customized by NASA. They repositioned the receivers and installed the leather liner in it.
The condition is pretty good considering it is over 50 years old, and shows that it saw lots of action during its service.
The back of the helmet depicts the Gemini, NASA and Apollo stickers, showing some honest wear.
The AN/URT-33 Survival Beacon Radio was used for locating downed pilots. The pilot talks to the rescue team by help of his SAR radio. The device normally was activated at bailout and sent a signal for quick location of the pilot.
I can only imagine the adventures these elements endured during one of the most important achievements of mankind.
Hope you guys enjoy them.
Regards,
Jorge
Last edited:
