Hammer and Feather

by Alan Bean

This Alan Bean print recreates Galileo's famous experiment from the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Galileo postulated that gravity acts upon all objects with the same force, whether they are light or heavy. On Earth, the air would slow the feather's fall, but Apollo 15 commander Dave Scott had no such problem on the airless moon. Both his lunar hammer and falcon feather (the LM was nicknamed Falcon) landed on the lunar surface at the same time, doing Galileo proud.

Signed by Alan Bean and co-signed by the reclusive Dave Scott. A tough and expensive autograph to obtain, Dave Scott's signature is among the rarest and most desireable of the Apollo astronauts. Apollo 15 was a landmark mission, the first of the "J-missions" with the first lunar rover, extended stay backpacks, heavy-lift Saturn V, and highly trained geologist-astronauts. Apollo 15 landed in an area of spectacular geology and grandiose terrain, near Hadley Rille in the foothills of the Apennine mountains.