Poster, NASA, Manned Flight Awareness

This poster depicts a lunar rover on the Moon, with the portraits and signatures of each of the Apollo 16 astronauts. The text reads, “Make the Descartes scene…with Apollo 16.” The portraits reinforce the human nature of the Apollo program, and the text implies that each employee travels with them on the Moon’s Descartes Highlands, the landing site of the mission.

NASA’s Manned Flight Awareness, a program begun in 1963, and later renamed Space Flight Awareness, created posters to enhance employee motivation for job quality and flight safety within NASA and its contractors.

Following a tragic fire that killed three Apollo astronauts on January 27, 1967, NASA worked with the Boeing to develop a program to uncover deficiencies in the Apollo program. The Technical Integration and Evaluation, or TIE, program helped improve communication at NASA, and NASA vigorously renewed its efforts to instill quality work and job safety within the program to prevent future disasters.