posted 03-16-2025 10:30 PM               

I have this "pad leader" helmet I inherited from a close family friend/neighbor. His name was Karl Merz, and he had a long history at Boeing — from helping develop radio communication technology to, apparently, being pad leader for a launch. I haven't been able to find munch info about it, and Karl didn't talk about his work much. He was more interested in tinkering with radios and all his favorite stories involved explosions. I do have a full-page ad Boeing used to recruit with his picture and a blurb by him about working at Boeing I'll have to find.

Anyway, this helmet appears to have many signatures on it, and it's in, well, a condition I'd expect a used construction helmet to be in, so I'm having trouble making them out.

Boeing wasn't much help, and the Kennedy Space Center let me know their records are closed.

Some signatures are Russian. I'm hoping cosmonauts? Others are astronauts. Beyond this I'm not sure of much. The condition is kind of rough, and a friend offered $400 on it but I'm hesitant to take the deal even if he could get it into Boeing for further research.

Thoughts? More pics on request. Any help or direction is appreciated!

posted 03-17-2025 05:25 PM               

The others (I'm guessing here) might be:

• Alan Shepard (initials)
  
• George Dobrovolsky
  
• Viktor Patsayev
  
• Paul something? Can't make it out.

posted 03-17-2025 08:13 PM               

The three cosmonauts did not travel to the United States and per Soviet tradition, the two first-time fliers, Dobrovolsky and Patsayev, refrained from signing autographs (custom stated that cosmonauts did not sign autographs until they returned from their first spaceflight).