In 1964, Gerhard Pistor, an Austrian journalist, went to a travel agency in Vienna and requested a flight to the Moon. The agency forwarded his request to Pan American Airways (Pan Am) which accepted the reservation and replied that the first flight was expected to depart in the year 2000. Pan Am public relations personnel began a waiting list of others eager to travel to the Moon, and actively promoted it after the success of the Apollo 8 and Apollo 11 missions. Pan Am issued 93,000 "First Moon Flights" Club cards between 1968 and 1971 to members in every U.S. state, as well as 90 countries around the world. As late as 1989, Pan Am maintained that they would eventually redeem the memberships, but the cards became collector's items when the company declared bankruptcy in 1991.

NASM.2018.0049

Arranged, described, and encoded by Jessamyn Lloyd, 2018.

Circa 1968

Michelle Iradjpanah, Gift, 2018, NASM.2018.0049

0.05 Cubic feet (1 folder)

This collection consists of one Pan American Airways (Pan Am) "First Moon Flights" Club membership card, numbered 5893.

No restrictions on access

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Collection is in original order.

This collection consists of one Pan American Airways (Pan Am) "First Moon Flights" Club membership card, numbered 5893. The card measures approximately 3.5 by 2.5 inches. The line for the member's name is blank, and the card features the facsimile signature of James Montgomery, Vice President, Sales.

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Pan American Airways (Pan Am) "First Moon Flights" Club Membership Card, NASM.2018.0049, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

National Air and Space Museum Archives