The Space Age was a time period encompassing the activities related to the Space Race, space exploration, space technology, and the cultural developments influenced by these events. The Space Age is generally considered to have begun with Sputnik (1957) and ended with the last Space Shuttle flight this year The Space Age was characterized by rapid development of new technology in a close race between the USA and the Soviet Union. Rapid advances were made in rocketry, materials science, computers and other areas. Much of the technology originally developed for space applications has been spun off and found other uses. The Space Age reached its peak with the Apollo program that captured the imagination of much of the world's population. The landing of Apollo 11 was watched by over 500 million people around the world and is widely recognized as one of the defining moments of the 20th century. This Rand McNally Lunar Globe is a great memorabilia of this magnificent era. Our model still displays a partially unexplored side also known as the dark side of the moon, never visible to earth. Untitled, generic landscape has been applied to the dark side as the other half of the moon identifies names of the valleys, mountains and craters. Landing sites of Apollo 11 has yet to be immortalized onto the globe, as the globe had been produced prior to the event. The Lunar Globe Index and Guide provide an illustrated glossary of lunar terminology, a synopsis of why mankind is seeking to explore the moon and space and more. Well maintained over the 4 past decades, the moon shows minimal wear, no loss of map or rubbing. The black plastic base has a very mid century modern feel. As a matter of fact, the entire model displays a very clean, minimalistic feel. The pamphlet has stains and soiling as seen in the photo, all pages are present and crisp in details. The same model was offered by Christie's Auction House (Kensington) June 1999, Lot 27. It was appraised in the amount of 770€-1200€, which is equivalent to $1,000 - $1,500. The artifact has a diameter of 12 inches with a total height (including stand) 14 inches. An exquisite Space Age Era artifact! $345 — Item : 311RMCLUN69 - SOLD