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[b]Space Cover #247: Apollo 8: Off to the Moon![/b] This week we will continue with our tribute to Apollo 8 on its 45th anniversary that Steve and Tom began so well with Apollo 8 Christmas-related covers and USS Yorktown recovery covers. The covers shown this week will commemorate the launch of Apollo 8 on the first manned flight to the moon. On December 21, 1968, Apollo 8 lifted off from LC-39A at KSC. A huge amount of covers were produced for the launch and shown here are only three examples: An Apollo 8 crew patch/mission emblem cacheted cover of the type sold at the KSC gift shop (top); a Space City Cover Society Local Post rubber stamp cacheted cover (middle); and an official NASA/KSC label cacheted cover (bottom). As expected, through the years many Apollo 8 launch covers were autographed by one or more of the three Apollo 8 crew members, with both Frank Borman and Jim Lovell generally receptive to signing for many years. However, as many collectors well know, Bill Anders was a very reluctant signer, so covers authentically signed by the entire three-man Apollo 8 crew are among the hardest to find Apollo crew signed covers. Two of the three Apollo 8 signed covers shown here have been signed by all three, with the Apollo 8 crew patch cover signed before the flight for a NASA official. The SCCS cover was signed sometime after the flight, and the Apollo 8 official NASA/KSC label cacheted cover signed by only Borman and Lovell. These covers show only three types of covers/cachets for Apollo 8, with two being scarce examples of covers signed by the entire Apollo 8 crew. Because Borman and Lovell signed a large amount of covers and photos together, collectors need to be advised and warned that a fairly convincing Bill Anders forgery added to any Borman/Lovell signed item would transform it into a valuable commodity. Unless Apollo 8 crew signed material has solid provenance, and not just originating from any well-known auction or dealer, it should be checked out by a qualified impartial authority.
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