This hand controller locking pin was flown on the United States' fifth manned space flight, Mercury Atlas 8 inside the Sigma 7 spacecraft with astronaut pilot Walter "Wally" Schirra. Launched from Cape Canveral's Complex 14 on October 3, 1962, MA-8 made six orbits of the Earth, traveling 143,983 statute miles before splashing down in the Ocean. Schirra and Sigma 7 were weightless for nine hours, on this the second to last mission of the Mercury program.

This pin was personally retrieved from the capsule post flight by Mercury mechanical engineer Sam Beddingfield, who provides a signed certificate of authenticity with this lot. The pin was previously on display at the Space Walk of Fame Museum since 2003.

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