Black and white photograph of a man's head in a space suit on a white background and in the center of the button with two space capsules one on each side of the head and red text along the top edge and under the image with a blue bottom edge with white text.

This button commemorates Astronaut Scott Carpenter who was the fourth American in space and the second to orbit the Earth. Carpenter was one of seven astronauts selected for NASA's Project Mercury. On May 24th,1962 Carpenter was launched into space aboard the spacecraft Aurora 7. The goal of the mission was to corroborate the previous space flight of putting a man in orbit. During reentry a targeting error took the spacecraft 250 miles off course. There was great concern over whether Carpenter had survived as he could not be easily located after his splashdown. Carpenter never flew in space again. He sustained an arm injury in a motorcycle accident in 1964 which made him ineligible for spaceflight. He went on to work as an aquanaut for the Navy's SEALAB program.

Read more about the History of NASA buttons on the Busy Beaver blog.

Black and white illustration of a spaceship and the legs and feet of a person in a space suite walking on the moon with a strip of red above and below it with white text.

This button commemorates the Apollo 11 Moon landing of July 20, 1969. Buttons like this one were sold and collected as souvenirs of the historic event. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin walked on the Moon's surface while Michael Collins orbited above in the command module. Broadcast on live TV Neil Armstrong was the first to step onto the lunar surface and spoke the now infamous words "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Apollo 11 ended the Space Race by beating the Soviet Union in the race to the Moon as well as meeting President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 challenge to land a man on the Moon before the end of the decade.

Read more about the History of NASA buttons on the Busy Beaver blog.

Black and white photograph of a man's head and shoulders in a space suit on a white background and in the center of the button with a blue outline of a banner across the top with red text in it and red text under the photograph and blue text along the bottom edge.

Malcolm Scott Carpenter was born in Boulder, Colorado on May 1, 1925. H served as a pilot in the United States Navy during World War II. He orbited the earth several times aboard the Aurora 7 and became the first person to eat solid food in space before returning to earth. His spacecraft landed in the Atlantic Ocean and he was picked up forty minutes later by a U.S. Navy vessel while aboard a life raft that was stored in his space capsule.

Read more about the History of NASA buttons on the Busy Beaver blog.

Blue and white photograph of a man's head in a space suit with red text along the top outer edge on a white background.

On February 20, 1962, as part of Project Mercury, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth and the fifth man in space. The intent of Glenn’s mission was to not only to put a man into orbit but also to observe his reactions to the environment of space and most importantly return him safely to Earth. With Glenn’s safe return he instantly became a national hero. His flight was commemorated with numerous souvenir items including buttons like this.

Black and white photograph of a man's head and shoulders wearing a space suite in the center of the button with red text along the outer edge on a white background.

John H. Glenn Jr. is a retired American astronaut, naval pilot, and politician. Glenn is best known for being the first person to orbit the earth. On February 20, 1962, Glenn's space capsule, the Friendship 7 orbited the Earth three times at an average speed of more than 17,000 miles per hour. He then landed in the Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda. Glenn and his spacecraft were recovered by a United States Navy destroyer called the Noa.

Illustration of a white, black and red space shuttle flying in black space with stars over a blue planet inside a hexagon with a thin red outline then a grey outline with red and purple text, then a thin purple outline surrounded by a white background.

Challenger STS-6, more commonly referred to as "Challenger 6", refers to a mission undertaken by NASA between April 4- April 9, 1983. Challenger was the name of the space shuttle utilized during the mission, while the number 6 refers to the fact that it was the sixth mission undertaken by the NASA space program. Challenger 6 featured the first spacewalk undertaken as part of the NASA space shuttle program. It also featured the first deployment of a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite.The names of the Astronauts that took part in the mission were: Paul J. Weitz, Karol J. Bobko, Donald H. Peterson, and F. Story Musgrave.

Illustration of a white eagle flying across the inner circle of the button with a wing depicted as the American flag on a blue sky background with two stars and an illustartion of a space shuttle. This is in the center of the button with a thin white ring around it followed by a thicker grey ring and a thicker white outer ring.

Columbia STS-2 was the official name of the second mission attempted by NASA's space shuttle program as well as the second voyage of the Columbia space shuttle. The operation began on November 12, 1981 and ended on November 14, 1981.The mission was originally supposed to last 5 days, but was shortened to 2 days due to the failure of a fuel cell. The name of the commander of the mission was Joseph H. Engle, while the Pilot was Richard H. Truly. The space shuttle orbited the earth approximately 37 times during which the astronauts conducted scientific experiments.

White text on a backgound of speckled blue, pink, dark blue, and green over a curved pink bottom with black text on top.

Voyager 2 is the name of an unmanned spacecraft that was launched on August 20, 1977. The vessel contains a golden phonographic record that contains greetings in 55 languages, sounds, and images meant to portray life on earth if it were to meet extraterrestrial life forms. The spacecraft's primary mission was to transmit data related to Jupiter and Saturn.Later on the mission was extended to provide data on Uranus and Neptune and eventually extended to provide data on the edge of the solar system and beyond. Voyager 2 reached Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1981. By 1986 Voyager 2 had reached Uranus, while in 1989 it had reached Neptune. The spacecraft is currently in the outer reaches of the solar system.

Read more about the History of NASA buttons on the Busy Beaver blog.

Blue text on a white background

This button is opposing Franklin Roosevelt for President in 1940. The 'Fireside Chats" were the series of evening addresses on national radio delivered by then President Roosevelt between 1933 and 1944. These chats enabled Roosevelt to speak directly to the American people in their homes and promoted his New Deal programs and later war effort. Millions of people found comfort and renewed confidence in these speeches, especially during the Depression and war time. In 1940, the opposition put out this button to stall his campaign for a third term. 

A photograph of a man with a mustache wearing a black suit in front of a blue and white background. Below is a red rose; attached to the rose's stem is a blue ribbon with white text.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) was the 26th President of the United States, from 1901 to 1909. He began the 1901-1905 term as Vice-President to William McKinley but rose to the presidency on March 4, 1901 when the latter was assassinated. Roosevelt then ran for president for a second term and won the election of 1904. This button promoted him as a candidate during that campaign and is an example of a rebus, an allusional device that uses pictures or images to represent words or parts of words, in this case a rose.