RARE COIN

NASA LARGE FORMAT CAMERA

ITEK OPTICAL SYSTEMS

FIRST FLIGHT CHALLENGER 1984

You are bidding on a Huge Scarce Vintage NASA medal with two distinct sides. Both sides described below. Very rare and interesting coin. It is in great overall shape with minor wear from age and use. See photos for details.

CHALLENGER SIDE

The image shows a vintage bronze commemorative medallion or challenge coin for NASA Space Shuttle Mission 41-G (STS-41-G) aboard the Orbiter Challenger.

Key Details from the Medallion

• Mission: STS-41-G (Mission 41-G)

• Orbiter: Space Shuttle Challenger

• Launch Date/Time: October 5, 1984, at 7:03 AM EDT

• Landing Date/Time: October 13, 1984, at 12:23 PM EDT

Historical Significance of STS-41-G

• First Crew of Seven: It was the first space shuttle mission to fly a seven-member crew.

• Two Women Aboard: It was the first space flight to feature two women astronauts simultaneously—Sally Ride and Kathryn Sullivan.

• First American Woman Spacewalk: Mission specialist Kathryn Sullivan performed the first spacewalk (EVA) by an American woman during this flight.

• First Canadian in Space: Payload specialist Marc Garneau became the first Canadian citizen to travel into space on this mission.

LARGE FORMAT CAMERA SIDE

This side of the medal commemorates the Large Format Camera (LFC), an advanced spaceborne cartographic system developed by Itek Optical Systems (a division of Litton Industries) that flew as a major scientific payload in the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle Challenger during Mission 41-G.

Key Elements of the Design

• The Shuttle Artwork: The central illustration depicts the Space Shuttle Challenger orbiting Earth, projecting a wide, triangular field of view onto the planet's surface below. This represents the wide-angle ground swath captured by the camera system.

• Large Format Camera (LFC): Prominently inscribed along the top border, the LFC was a high-resolution engineering marvel utilizing massive film strips to map vast geographic areas (over 60,000 square kilometers per frame) for geology, cartography, and terrestrial planning.

• Itek Optical Systems (Litton): Emblazoned at the bottom alongside their corporate logo, Itek was the precision optics contractor selected by NASA to design and handcraft this specialized camera system.