Signed Photograph of Ed White During the First Space Walk Taken by an American, Inscribed to Future Assistant Secretary of Defense Jack Katzen

NASA's Project Mercury, which launched the first Americans into space, was succeeded by Project Gemini, the objective of which was to develop space travel techniques in support of the upcoming Project Apollo, which would land men on the Moon.

Project Gemini sent ten manned flights into space in 1965 and 1966. Gemini was successful in achieving missions long enough for a trip to the Moon and back, perfected extra-vehicular activity (which back then was called walking in space), and maneuvers necessary to achieve rendezvous and docking.

There were 16 Project Gemini astronauts: three were Project Mercury holdovers – Gordon Cooper, Wally Schirra and Gus Grissom; the rest except for Ed White would all gain greater fame for their Apollo and Moon-landing exploits. Within an already elite group, White was considered to be very promising by the management of NASA, and he was chosen as Pilot of Gemini 4, and important mission whose purpose was to demonstrate the viability of extra-vehicular activity. White was given the opportunity to responsibility of doing this, and on June 3, 1965, he became the first American to walk in space. His exploit was successful, and White found the experience so exhilarating that he was reluctant to terminate the mission at the allotted time, and had to be ordered back into the spacecraft.

An 8 by 10 inch color photograph of White during his historic space walk, inscribed and signed "To Jack Katzen – Best regards, Edward H. White II, Gemini IV – 3 June '65." Katzen was an aerospace industry executive who went on to Assistant Secretary of Defense for Production and Logistics. We obtained this item from his descendants, and it has never before been offered for sale.

In March 1966 White was selected as Senior Pilot for the first manned Apollo flight, along with Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee. The launch of Apollo 1 was planned for February 21, 1967, and the crew entered the spacecraft on January 27 for a full test of the spacecraft, which included a rehearsal of the launch countdown procedure. Mid-way through the test, a fire broke out in the cabin, killing all three men. White's job in an emergency was to open the hatch, which he apparently tried to do; his body was found in his center seat, with his arms reaching over his head toward the hatch. His autographs, and those of Grissom and Chaffee, are much less common than those of other astronauts.