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Anyone who collects astronaut autographs should be aware of the notorious autopen signature. An autopen is a machine-generated signature. Every signature is identical to the previous signature. The signer never even touches the item! Celebrities have used autopens for years to deal with massive amounts of fan mail. NASA astronauts are no exception. Although these autographs were authorized, they are not considered original, hand-signed signatures.
Scope of the Autopen Problem
Most of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts have used autopens to handle routine correspondence and fan mail. Plus many more Skylab and Space Shuttle astronauts. These signatures are found on different types of autographed items, like index cards, first day covers, NASA-issued photos and typed letters on letterhead.
Autopens can be found on crew-signed photos and first day covers, even mixed among authentic signatures. To complicate matters, some astronauts used multiple different autopen examples.
With all these autopens in circulation, it is risky buying astronaut autographs from inexperienced sellers on eBay. But if you know what to look for, you can protect yourself against these autograph clones.
Who's Who In Astronaut Autopens
Here's some of the early astronauts who used autopens:
- Buzz Aldrin
- Joseph Allen
- William Anders
- Neil Armstrong
- Alan Bean
- Guion Bluford
- Karol Bobko
- Charles Bolden
- Frank Borman
- Vance Brand
- Daniel Brandenstein
- Roy Bridges
- James Buchli
- Jerry Carr
- Gene Cernan
- Franklin Chang-Diaz
- Mary Cleave
- Michael Coats
- Michael Collins
- Charles Conrad
- Gordon Cooper
- Dick Covey
- John Creighton
- Bob Crippen
- Walt Cunningham
- Tony England
- Joe Engle
- Ron Evans
- Charlie Duke
- Bonnie Dunbar
- Donn Eisele
- John Fabian
- Anna Lee Fisher
- Gordon Fullerton
- Dale Gardner
- Owen Garriott
- Ed Gibson
- Robert Gibson
- John Glenn
- Richard Gordon
- Ron Grabe
- Fred Gregory
- Dave Griggs
- Gus Grissom
- Fred Haise
- Hank Hartsfield
- Fred Hauck
- Steven Hawley
- Karl Henize
- David Hilmers
- Jim Irwin
- Joe Kerwin
- David Leestma
- William Lenoir
- Don Lind
- John Lounge
- Jack Lousma
- James Lovell
- Shannon Lucid
- Ken Mattingly
- Jon McBride
- Bruce McCandless
- James McDivitt
- Ed Mitchell
- Mike Mullane
- Story Musgrave
- Steven Nagel
- George Nelson
- Bryan O'Connor
- Ellison Onizuka
- Bob Overmyer
- Robert Parker
- Don Peterson
- Bill Pogue
- Judith Resnick
- Sally Ride
- Stuart Roosa
- Jerry Ross
- Wally Schirra
- Harrison Schmitt
- Russell Schweickart
- Dick Scobee
- Dave Scott
- Rhea Seddon
- Brewster Shaw
- Alan Shepard
- William Shepherd
- Loren Shriver
- Donald Slayton
- Sherwood Spring
- Thomas Stafford
- Bob Stewart
- Kathryn Sullivan
- Jack Swigert
- Norman Thagard
- William Thornton
- Richard Truly
- James van Hoften
- Dave Walker
- Paul Weitz
- Edward White
- Donald Williams
- Al Worden
- John Young
To protect you against autopens, I have created separate eBay guides for each astronaut, with actual examples of their autopen signatures. This info comes from the archives of the underground newsletter "Space Autograph News", which published during the 1990s.
At first, I thought I'd be a hero for sharing this info with the eBay community. After all, doesn't everyone want to avoid fake autographs? But guess what. A few grumps don't like my Guides, and they tried to tank me with negative feedback. Sure, it hurt my feelings, but I guess it can't be helped. The truth must be told!
If you believe in what I'm doing, please take a moment to leave positive feedback. Thanks for reading, especially to the 4,900 people who checked this out as of January 10, 2008. I really appreciate the 70 or so people who did leave feedback. I'm going to keep writing Guides and publishing this information, no matter what. If you have any updates, let me know, and I'll be happy to keep these Guides updated for all to use. Once again, please take a moment to leave feedback. That would make me so happy!!! Good luck with your collecting!
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