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Home / Historical / 2014 November 12 Space Exploration Signature Auction - Dallas Auction #6129 / Lot #52241
    LOT #52241  | 
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    Apollo 13: An Original Typed Copy of the Legendary Towing Bill Sent to North American Rockwell by Grumman, Signed by both Jame...

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    • Explorers:Space Exploration, Apollo 13: An Original Typed Copy of the Legendary Towing Bill Sent to North American Rockwell by Grumman, Signed by both Jame...
    • Explorers:Space Exploration, Apollo 13: An Original Typed Copy of the Legendary Towing Bill Sent to North American Rockwell by Grumman, Signed by both Jame...
    Explorers:Space Exploration, Apollo 13: An Original Typed Copy of the Legendary Towing Bill Sent to North American Rockwell by Grumman, Signed by both Jame... Explorers:Space Exploration, Apollo 13: An Original Typed Copy of the Legendary Towing Bill Sent to North American Rockwell by Grumman, Signed by both Jame... View More >
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    Description

    Apollo 13: An Original Typed Copy of the Legendary Towing Bill Sent to North American Rockwell by Grumman, Signed by both James Lovell and Fred Haise. This is an original typewritten version on Grumman billing stationery that goes into great detail on the charges (more than others we're familiar with), 8" x 10.75" (sight size), of the humorous towing bill that Grumman sent to Rockwell just after the successful return of the Apollo 13 astronauts from their near-disastrous trip to the moon and back. It is signed at the bottom: "She was a good ship!/ James Lovell/ CDR Apollo 13" and "Thanks for the lift, Grumman-/ Fred Haise/ LMP Apollo 13". Matted and framed to an overall 13.5" x 15.5". This is the nicest example of these we've seen. Very fine.

    As the Apollo 13 lunar module was being powered up and reheated for final injection into Earth trajectory on April 17, 1970, at which point it finally became possible for Grumman's engineers to believe that the crew would survive, John Hussey and his men prepared a towing bill for Rockwell (builders of the crippled CSM). After having hauled Rockwell's capsule and its service module back to Earth with the lunar module's engines, the engineers decided to charge four dollars for the first mile, one dollar each additional mile, with (among other additional surcharges) an invoice for use of the LM's jumper cable to recharge the command module's batteries. The bill was typed, re-typed, photocopied, and passed around until one of the copies ended up on newscaster Walter Cronkite's desk. Grumman and NASA management, to say nothing of Rockwell management, were not amused. For many months afterward, concerned citizens who took the joke seriously sent Grumman envelopes containing money, to help Rockwell pay the 400,000 mile towing bill.

    Auction Info

    Auction Dates
    November, 2014
    12th Wednesday
    Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 8
    Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
    Page Views: 3,985

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