Bidspirit auction | Astronaut Dick Frimout signed NASA

Astronaut Dick Frimout signed NASA series of Sounding rockets FDC PM Army Postal Service APO 2 Aug 1990 96555. Missions: STS-45. Frimout flew as a payload specialist on STS-45 Atlantis (24 March to 2 April 1992). STS-45 was launched from and returned to land at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. It was the first Spacelab mission dedicated to NASA's Mission to Planet Earth. During the nine-day flight, the crew aboard Atlantis operated the twelve experiments that constituted the ATLAS-1 (Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science) cargo. ATLAS-1 obtained a vast array of detailed measurements of atmospheric chemical and physical properties, which contributed significantly to improving our understanding of our climate and atmosphere. In addition, this was the first time an artificial beam of electrons was used to stimulate a man-made auroral discharge. At mission conclusion, Frimout had traveled 3.2 million miles in 143 Earth orbits and logged over 214 hours in space. His flight made him instantaneously very famous in Belgium and triggered what was called Frimout-mania. Prince Philippe of Belgium talked with him when he was in space and a ticker tape parade was organized when he came back to Belgium.