Welcome to my space collection

 

After watching HBO's From the Earth to the Moon in 2008, I thought it would be amazing to own the autographs of the twelve men who walked on the Moon.

 

At first, I imagined simply writing to the astronauts and asking for signed photographs. After doing some research, I quickly realized that it would not be that easy. Several of the astronauts had already passed away, some had stopped signing altogether, and the remaining autographs were far more expensive than I had expected.

 

In 2015, I finally felt that I had the financial means to pursue my dream. I began collecting the Moonwalkers. The first two I bought were John Young and Harrison Schmitt because I believed they would be among the hardest to find. Neil Armstrong became the twelfth and final addition one year later.

 

I thought my collection was complete.

 

Then a new idea appeared.

 

I wanted to leave one complete set of Moonwalkers to each of my two sons. After completing my second set, I realized I could make both collections even more special by giving them different themes: one consisting entirely of lunar surface photographs and the other entirely of WSS lithographs. Completing these themed sets took several more years, especially because of the Jim Irwin WSS lithograph and Neil Armstrong's lunar surface autograph.

 

While working on those collections, I also started collecting the twelve Moon Voyagers. Some of these proved surprisingly difficult, particularly Bill Anders and Jack Swigert. I initially settled for signed stamps and covers for some of the harder ones, but in 2021 I finally upgraded both to signed photographs. By then I had completed two themed Moonwalker collections and a complete collection of the Moon Voyagers.

 

Naturally, the question became:

 

What should I collect next?

 

The answer was the remaining flown astronauts from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. Gus Grissom and Edward White were among the most difficult additions, but both joined the collection in 2022.

 

At about the same time, I discovered Soviet space history and began collecting cosmonaut-signed Kniga covers. I started with the Vostok covers, continued with Voskhod, and eventually completed the Soyuz series. Soyuz 21–24 proved challenging, but by 2024 the Kniga collection was complete.

 

With both American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts growing steadily, my collecting goal naturally expanded.

 

I decided to collect every flown astronaut and cosmonaut from Yuri Gagarin's historic first spaceflight in 1961 through the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975. My vision was simple: signed photographs for the astronauts and signed covers for the cosmonauts.

 

This goal was completed.

 

Once that milestone had been reached, the collection continued to grow in new directions.

 

I added the Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz astronauts. After that, I decided to honor the astronauts who lost their lives in the Challenger and Columbia Space Shuttle disasters. Ilan Ramon proved especially difficult to obtain, and I eventually settled for a signed poster trimmed to photograph size.

 

One collecting area I never expected to pursue was the X-15 program. I knew I would probably never own a Mike Adams autograph, so what was the point? Then, in 2024, I actually managed to obtain one—absolutely unreal! That completely changed everything, and I decided to collect the rest of the X-15 pilots. Jack McKay proved difficult, but I finally obtained him in 2025. I don't have a Neil Armstrong X-15 cover, but since I already own two other Armstrong autographs, I'm perfectly happy with that.

 

I also added several exceptionally rare pre-spaceflight astronauts, including Edward Givens, Theodore Freeman, Charles Bassett, C.C. Williams, Elliot See, Stephen Thorne and Roger Chaffee.

 

One deliberate exception remains the Soyuz 11 crew. Since I have never felt confident about the authenticity of the available autographs, I chose instead to represent them with an unsigned set of Soyuz 11 covers.

 

In 2026, I realized that my collection had gradually evolved into something much larger than I had ever imagined back in 2008.

 

My final goal became to document the first twenty years of human spaceflight—from Yuri Gagarin's historic flight on April 12, 1961, to NASA's first Space Shuttle mission on April 12, 1981.

 

Today, that goal has been achieved.

 

When I bought my first Moonwalker autograph, I never imagined where the journey would lead. What began as a dream of owning the twelve men who walked on the Moon gradually evolved into documenting the first twenty years of human spaceflight through authentic signed photographs and signed covers. Looking back, the journey has been just as rewarding as the collection itself. Every autograph tells the story of an individual, and every item represents a unique chapter in the history of space exploration.

 

Although I still enjoy adding new pieces whenever something special appears, I no longer collect with the same intensity. Today, I simply enjoy preserving and sharing a collection that represents nearly two decades of dedication, research and patience.

 

I hope you enjoy viewing it as much as I have enjoyed building it.

 

Sincerely,

 

Magnus

 

(Special thanks to Gerry Montague of Astronaut Archives for helping me build this collection over the years.)