Description:

A SIGNED LETTER FROM SANDY MCDONNELL TO JOHN YARDLEY
The typed letter dated the first of February, 1980, with Sanford N. McDonnell's letterhead, with personal intent to John F. Yardley on the event of his 55th birthday, during his time as Director, Office of Manned Spaceflight for NASA. The letter goes on to detail obstacles and successes at MDC in Yardley's absence (he returned to McDonnel Douglas in 1981), mentioning the three DC-10 crashes that occurred in 1979 (most notably American Airlines Flight 191, which crashed May 25, 1979 departing from O'Hare, as well as Western Airlines Flight 2605 on October 31st, and Air New Zealand Flight 901 (the Mount Erebus Disaster) on November 28th). Mentioned is the FAA absolving MDC of any blame for the crash at O'Hare, which is still the deadliest aviation accident to have occurred in the United States, killing 271. The letter is signed by hand "Sandy".

    Provenance:
  • Purchased July 26th, 2013 from the estate of John F. Yardley, a crucial figure in early space travel and St. Louis native. Yardley served as chief engineer for the Project Mercury (1958-1963) spacecraft, which carried the first Americans into space, and then as technical director for its successor, the Project Gemini (1961-1966) spacecraft, as well as serving as associate administrator for manned space flight at NASA from 1974 to 1981. Returning to St. Louis, Yardley then served as president of McDonnell Douglas Astronautics until he retired in 1989.
  • Dimensions:
  • 10 1/2 x 7 1/4 in. (26.7 x 18.4 cm.)
  • Condition:
  • Clear fold lines evident to the backside, but not posing any threat to the structure of the paper.

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May 5, 2023 10:00 AM CDT
St. Louis, MO, US

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $29 $5
$30 $99 $10
$100 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $2,999 $100
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $29,999 $1,000
$30,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $299,999 $10,000
$300,000 $499,999 $25,000
$500,000 + $50,000