STAFFORD'S FASTEST FLOWN BETA CLOTH EMBLEM CARRIED IN LUNAR MODULE SNOOPY.
FLOWN on the Apollo X lunar flight, a crew Beta emblem approximately 9 inches square.
Accompanied by THOMAS P. STAFFORD'S signed provenance letter which reads: "Enclosed with this letter is an Apollo X Beta cloth crew emblem flown on the flight of Apollo X during May 18 to 26, 1969. I was commander of this flight which carried the first lunar module named SNOOPY to lunar orbit.
This Beta emblem was carried in SNOOPY as Gene Cernan and I descended to within 50,000 feet of the lunar surface. We perform all tasks needed for the next flight, Apollo 11, except the actual lunar landing. Gene and I proved that the planning teams had correctly established the procedures for lunar operations, with just a few exceptions that were later corrected for Apollo 11.
The beta emblem has the distinction of one of the fastest flown artifacts from space travel. During the Apollo X reentry, my fellow crew members, Gene Cernan and John Young, and I established the all-time record for the highest speed ever attained by man — 24,790 miles per hour. This speed record will not be broken until a crew of astronauts return from Mars sometime during the 21st century."
