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[b]Space Cover of the Week #704: Gemini-6/7 NASA Cachet Error[/b] In December 1965, the United States conducted the first rendezvous between to orbiting vehicles. Gemini 6 was launched on December 15 and caught up with the orbiting Gemini-7 spacecraft which was launched on December 4. They orbited within one foot of each other completing yet another task that needed to be learned in our effort to land on the moon. Many covers exist for both the Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 missions. The Kennedy Space Center post office produced official NASA cachets for both missions as well. In fact, the Gemini 6 NASA cachet exists with both a dark background and a light background. Official NASA cachets are usually postmarked on the launch date but there have been exceptions throughout the years. Most exceptions are postmarked at other times during the mission. The cover pictured is what you might call the exception to the exception. It appears that the cover was intended to receive a cancel for the launch of Gemini 6 as well as an official NASA cachet. The cover instead received a very nice strike on the NASA cachet and a nice Cocoa Beach cancel. However, the December 20 date is four days after the Gemini 6 splashdown and even two days after the Gemini 7 splashdown. The city of Cocoa Beach is fairly close to the Cape Canaveral launch site and this certainly would have made an interesting cover had it been postmarked for the launch. It is still an interesting cover but I would like to know the story behind it. Was it intentional or was it an error? We will probably never know.
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