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A popular niche of Navy Zippos for collectors commemorate the recovery of astronauts from the space capsules after splash-down. Also see
Space Zippo |
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This 1962 Zippo commemorates the recovery of John Glenn by USS Noa after completion on the Mercury 3 mission which was the first US manned orbit of the Earth in February 1962 |
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| The two-sided 1962 Zippo to the left
commemorates USS Kearsarge's recovery of Walter Schirra after the 9 hour
Mercury 7 orbit mission in October 1962 and Gordon Cooper after the
Mercury 8 1 day 10 hour orbit in May 1963 which was the first US space
flight exceeding 24 hours. The one-sided Zippo below was probably a
presentation lighter for Admiral Karaberis. |
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| This 1965 two-sided Zippo for the USS Wasp
commemorates the recovery of the Gemini 6 Astronauts Walter Schirra
and Thomas Stafford on one side, and the Gemini 7 Astronauts Frank Borman
and Thomas Lovell on the reverse. Both missions were carried out in
December 1965. |
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The USS Wasp's recoveries are also commemorated on this Bracroft table lighter Zippo. |
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Apollo 8 was the
first of the Apollo series to successfully orbit the moon, and the first
manned spacecraft to leave Earth's gravity and reach the Moon. This
1968 two-sided slim Zippo commemorates the recovery of astronauts Frank
Borman, James Lovell and William Anders by USS Yorktown in December
1968. |
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The USS Hornet recovered the Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 astronauts,
the first men on the moon; in 1969, the year of this Town & Country
Zippo. |
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This is a 2001 Zippo for USS Hornet CVS 12 Prime Recovery
Ship. The reverse has an image of the ship and the Apollo
12 slogan "Three More Like Before." While the images look
very much like the process Town & Country images on
the 1969 version above, they are not since the T&C method
was discontinued at the end of the 60's. The value of
this 2001 version value is a fraction of what the 1969
models are worth. |
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