Auction Name: 2026 March 21 Space Exploration Showcase Auction

Lot Number: 71031

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/33172*71031

Bell X-1 Multi-Signed NASA Photograph featuring "Mach Jump" Telemetry Tape (October 14, 1947). This 10" x 8" glossy B&W official NASA/ Dryden Flight Research Center photograph (E-38438) serves as a composite tribute to the most significant milestone in aviation history: the first manned supersonic flight. The image depicts the Bell X-1 #1 (Tail No. 6062) in flight, superimposed above an image of the historic "Mach Jump" paper tape. This telemetry record from October 14, 1947, shows the moment the needle "jumped" past Mach 1.0, providing the definitive proof that Chuck Yeager had exceeded the speed of sound. Signed by several legends with association to this historic flight:

Chuck Yeager: The pilot of the X-1 and the first human to break the sound barrier. (Boldly signed across the fuselage).
Fred J. Ascani: Major General and the man responsible for selecting Yeager for the program. Inscribed with: "X-1 Pilot Selection."
Bob Hoover: Legendary test pilot, Yeager's primary backup, and the chase pilot during the historic flight.
Bob Cardenas: The pilot of the B-29 "Mothership" (Fertile Myrtle) that carried and air-launched the X-1 on its record-breaking mission.
Christopher C. Kraft Jr.: The legendary NASA Flight Director; then a NACA aeronautical engineer who worked on the X-1's flight data.
Gerald M. Truszynski: The NACA engineer responsible for the instrumentation and tracking that captured the very data shown on the "Mach Jump" tape.

The "Mach Jump" tape imaged at the bottom is one of the most iconic pieces of data in science, illustrating the jump in pressure-ratio that occurred as the aircraft transitioned from subsonic to supersonic flow. Excellent.

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