ISS Flown Flight Certification

Above is a picture of Cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko as he signs the flown Jefferson, as well as the individual flight certification sheet post flight. It is interesting to note that Tom witnessed another first on the flight of ISS-7: the first wedding in space! Yuri and his bride were married "virtually" over the phone. (Note the ring on Yuri's left hand in the photo!)

ISS-7: Launch, Approach, Orbit, Sunrise, Return

Tom had a comfortable six month stay in the Russian Zvada module of the International Space Station...although the landing was a bit rough...

And now, take an actual "fly around" tour of the ISS in space. Just click on the link below -- and experience the wonders of Earth Orbit.

...And three more, make 4 Flown!

Just recently, I was able to acquire the other three of the known flown US$2 bills from this mission, including their notes of provenance of flight. You will notice that of these three -- two are sequential in serial number, which is very cool; and they also carry the blue onboard ISS stamp along with the black ISS stamp. Like the first one I acquired, these are in crisp, uncirculated condition and come from the personal space collection of Yuri Malenchenko. OF the two new sequential bills, you will also note they are just one off in number from the first bill listed. This means I own 4 of the 5 known flown bills, and I would imagine that the one still outstanding is probably the one missing serial number between the first bill, and the second of the new three. I will always be on the hunt for that fifth bill...

2003 Jefferson Aboard SpaceShipOne for Historic Ansari X-Prize Flights

This is one of 10 uncirculated $2 bills that made both of the historic SpaceShipOne flights to claim the Ansari X-Prize, and establish SpaceShipOne as the leading private space craft vehicle. This particular bill (serial number I15894613A) took part in the first flight (X-1), which took place on Septebmer 29, 2004, with Astronaut Mike Melvill as the pilot. During a 24 minute and 11 second flight, Mike and Tom flew at the speed of Mach 2.92 and reached an altitude of 102.9 km in space. This very same bill was then flown on October 4, 2004 during X-2, by Astronaut Brian Binnie at the speed of Mach 3.09 and reached 112 km in space during a 23 minute and 56 second flight. With this second successful flight, Mike, Brian and Tom won for Scaled Composites the coveted Ansari X Prize, and forever placed them in the history books of manned space flight.