STS-55 / Spacelab D-2 Flown Materials Souvenir VIP Mission Book from Astronaut Bruce Melnick

Bruce Melnick's STS-55 - Spacelab D-2 Flown Materials Souvenir Book

A hard to find and seldom seen STS-55 Mission Spacelab D-2 flown materials souvenir book from the German Daimler Chrysler Aerospace Corporation that was given to Astronaut Bruce Melnick. This book entitled “The Spirit of Spacelab” details the highlights of the mission and has a section of Mission Flown Seal along with a sample of Garden Cress Seeds from the plant experiments and Thermal Protection gold film. These mission souvenir books were produced in very small numbers and this one includes the letter to Bruce Melnick.  The souvenir book is accompanied by two letters to Brue Melnick from the Daimler Chrysler Aerospace company.  It is in very good condition with some storage and handling wear mostly to the protective cover.  The item measures 8 ½” x 10”.

STS-55, also known as Spacelab D-2, was the 55th flight of the Space Shuttle program and the 14th flight of Space Shuttle Columbia. Launched on April 26, 1993, it was a Spacelab mission with a significant German contribution, hence the "D-2" designation, which stands for Deutschland 2 (Germany 2). The mission focused on various scientific experiments in life sciences, material sciences, technology, Earth observation, astronomy, and atmospheric physics.