371 3rd (C), Sardarpura, Jodhpur (Rajasthan). India, November 26, 1969.
Bifolium leaf, 3 pp. Text in black and purple ink. Integral address on recto. CONDITION: Very good, old folds, minimal wear to edges, highly legible.
An effusive letter written by a young woman medical student to NASA, in the immediate aftermath of the successful Apollo 12 moon landing, requesting a range of promotional reports and ephemera from the organization.
Mehta wrote this letter to NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas, two days after the completion of the Apollo 12 mission. The mission was the sixth crewed flight in the Apollo program, and the second to land successfully on the Moon. Mehta had evidently corresponded with NASA after the Apollo 11 landing earlier in 1969, and the organization had complied with her request to obtain copies of “the mission report of Apollo 11” as well as “pictures of moon & Apollo 11 crew.” We believe that both earlier that year and at the time of composing the present missive, she was writing from the Dr. Sampurnanand Medical College, the local medical college then operating in Jodhpur.
Mehta’s fascination with, and admiration of, space exploration is overwhelmingly evident throughout the letter, as she writes repeatedly about how happy NASA’s successes have made her. In fact, Mehta’s admiration of NASA’s interstellar exploits evidently translated to a broader admiration of America, as she here makes passing reference to the US policy during the Vietnam War, stating that “I love the U.S. heartily. I have faith & confidence in Mr. [Richard] Nixon’s Vietnam policy.”
We note, by way of conclusion, that the first woman of Indian origin to fly to space, Kalpana Chawla, had been part of NASA’s team in the late 1990s, and was associated with the two flights of the Columbia shuttle. This letter precedes that landmark event by some thirty years, and stands as a testament to the widespread interest NASA’s space program drew in the late 1960s.
371 3rd (C), Sardarpura, Jodhpur (Rajasthan). India, November 26, 1969.
Bifolium leaf, 3 pp. Text in black and purple ink. Integral address on recto. CONDITION: Very good, old folds, minimal wear to edges, highly legible.
An effusive letter written by a young woman medical student to NASA, in the immediate aftermath of the successful Apollo 12 moon landing, requesting a range of promotional reports and ephemera from the organization.
Mehta wrote this letter to NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas, two days after the completion of the Apollo 12 mission. The mission was the sixth crewed flight in the Apollo program, and the second to land successfully on the Moon. Mehta had evidently corresponded with NASA after the Apollo 11 landing earlier in 1969, and the organization had complied with her request to obtain copies of “the mission report of Apollo 11” as well as “pictures of moon & Apollo 11 crew.” We believe that both earlier that year and at the time of composing the present missive, she was writing from the Dr. Sampurnanand Medical College, the local medical college then operating in Jodhpur.
Mehta’s fascination with, and admiration of, space exploration is overwhelmingly evident throughout the letter, as she writes repeatedly about how happy NASA’s successes have made her. In fact, Mehta’s admiration of NASA’s interstellar exploits evidently translated to a broader admiration of America, as she here makes passing reference to the US policy during the Vietnam War, stating that “I love the U.S. heartily. I have faith & confidence in Mr. [Richard] Nixon’s Vietnam policy.”
We note, by way of conclusion, that the first woman of Indian origin to fly to space, Kalpana Chawla, had been part of NASA’s team in the late 1990s, and was associated with the two flights of the Columbia shuttle. This letter precedes that landmark event by some thirty years, and stands as a testament to the widespread interest NASA’s space program drew in the late 1960s.
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