Back in 1986 my father David Heshion took his lifelong love of Space out on the road for a journey of his own. He was working for the Bank of Boston and part time at the Museum of Science at the time when he decided after his friend Christa McAuliffe was killed in the tragedy that was the Space Shuttle Challenger that “These kids need to know.” He was adamant that children should learn about the wonders of Space Travel on a curriculum level. Since Space Travel wasn’t really taught in school, he decided he would do it. So slowly but surely, he designed a presentation that he would take school to school on a requested basis. He needed to have something eye-catching and authentic to catch the minds of kids and their imaginations, so he started to piece together a special presentation.
Like any new venture, David started small. Over time, however, he began to amass a very wonderful collection which is being auctioned now. My dad treasured these pieces and brought them to over 3,000 schools within his 34-year career. He loved and believed in NASA and space so much that he would have done this forever. His career was halted in April of 2018 when he passed away of unforeseen health conditions. I can still hear his mantra “There’s no limit to what you can do if you believe in two words, Can-Do.” Dad took so much pride in sharing his love of space, so that is what I’ve decided to do now. I want to share these pieces with people who will truly enjoy and treasure them.
Some interesting facts about the items are they’ve come from all different resources. Some were donated by museums. Others were purchased from private collectors. Quite a few were given by various NASA astronauts (most notably Gene Cernan) and some even given to dad by NASA themselves. So, I invite you to bid on a slice of history and help fulfill my dad’s wishes for these special pieces in time and treasure them as your own.
