Space Shuttle Columbia Flown Thermal Beta Cloth Blanket Segment Spacelab STS-9

Description

This listing is for a 1" x 3" multi-layer segment of Spacelab HPI insulation blanket, which was flown aboard Space Shuttle
Columbia
. This mission was significant for several reasons. It was the maiden voyage of Spacelab. It was the first NASA flight in partnership with the European Space Agency, who helped develop Skylab and included Ulf Merbold as their representative on the crew. And it was the final spaceflight of John Young, the most prolific astronaut in history.
As seen in the NASA photos here, the Spacelab module was covered in thermal insulation blankets to prevent it from solar radiation. After the flight, astronaut Ulf Merbold was given one of the blankets as a souvenir, in gratitude for his contribution to the program. This segment was cut from that blanket. The blanket was crafted using nearly 20 layers, all of which are still included. There's a cloth layer on top, followed by a thick foil layer, then over 15 layers of thin foil, and finally one more layer of thick foil. I used a rivet to loosely bind them together, so you can spread them out but keep them all connected.
Only 5 of these were made, and the one for sale is #1. In the photos, I've included images of this exact segment being removed from the overall piece (please note that the item you receive will look like the ones in the first two photos, not the full signed blanket piece). When Merbold sold this from his collection, he included the original removal tag from ERNO (the company that built Skylab), and I will include a color photocopy of this tag.
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