Michael Garland (American, B. 1952) "Thomas Stafford" Signed lower right. Original Acrylic painting on Illustration Board. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting was originally published on the Fleetwood Commemorative Cover for the Pioneer of Flight Series, cancelled March 24, 2001. Thomas P. Stafford was born in Weatherford, Oklahoma on September 17, 1930. He graduated with honors from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1952 and accepted a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. In 1959, Stafford was named the outstanding graduate of the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California. He stayed at the school as an instructor and later became chief of the Performance Branch. He was selected to NASA's second group of astronauts in September 1962. In May 1969, Stafford served as commander of Apollo 10, the first flight of Apollo's Lunar Module to the Moon. He paved the way for the first lunar landing by flying the entire landing mission profile except the actual touchdown, bringing the Lunar Module to within nine miles of the Moon's surface. Stafford's last space mission was as the American commander of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the first international rendezvous and docking in space. On July 17, 1975, his Apollo Command Module docked with the Soyuz capsule and the last hatch between the two spacecraft was opened. Through the open passageway, Stafford clasped the hand of his Soviet counterpart, Soyuz Commander Alexei Leonov, in a symbolic gesture of a new era of space flight cooperation. Image Size: 12 x 14 in. Overall Size: 15 x 16.75 in. Unframed. (B16880) See More