Space News
space history and artifacts articles

Messages
space history discussion forums

Sightings
worldwide astronaut appearances

Resources
selected space history documents

  collectSPACE: Messages
  Stamps & Covers
  Space Cover 59: Early Apollo KSC cachets

Post New Topic  Post A Reply
profile | register | preferences | faq | search

next newest topic | next oldest topic
Author Topic:   Space Cover 59: Early Apollo KSC cachets
Bob M
Member

Posts: 1744
From: Atlanta-area, GA USA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 05-30-2010 08:48 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Bob M   Click Here to Email Bob M     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Space Cover of the Week, Week 59 (May 31, 2010)

Space Cover #59, Apollo 4 and 5 official NASA/KSC cacheted covers

Official NASA/KSC cachets were a very popular collecting topic in the earlier days of space collecting and I'll only touch on the history of these fascinating and very collectible cachets at this time, and leave it to my SCOTW colleagues to continue as they choose.

The first official NASA/KSC cachet was applied to collectors' covers on July 1, 1965, to mark the opening of a postal facility at the NASA-Kennedy Space Center. All mail sent out that day received the official cachet, of which about 3,000 were philatelic covers.

Official NASA/KSC cachets were normally issued for Gemini and Apollo launches only, however, cachets were issued for a few other purposes, including the opening of the KSC post office; launch of Surveyor C (3); Fire Prevention Week; and the first anniversary of the first lunar landing. These rubber stamp cachets were typically applied in either red or blue ink, but for Apollo 7 and 8, special adhesive labels were affixed to the covers instead of the usual rubber stamp cachets.

The two covers presented this week are good representatives of these official NASA/KSC cachets. The top cover was the 17th issued NASA/KSC cachet and marks Apollo 4, the launch of the first Saturn V moon rocket on November 9, 1967 (and autographed by the Saturn V Program manager at MSFC), and the second cover and cachet mark the launch of Apollo 5, the first orbital, and unmanned, test flight of the Apollo Lunar Module, and autographed by Gene Kranz, the Apollo 5 Flight Director.

We plan to feature more official NASA/KSC cachets and information about them from time-to-time.

DChudwin
Member

Posts: 1096
From: Lincolnshire IL USA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 05-31-2010 10:08 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for DChudwin   Click Here to Email DChudwin     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Arthur Rudolph, who signed the AS-501 cover pictured above, was a controversial figure.

Here is the first paragraph of his wikipedia biography: "Arthur Louis Hugo Rudolph (November 9, 1906 – January 1, 1996) was a German rocket engineer and member of the Nazi party who helped develop and produce the V-2 rocket. After World War II he was brought to the United States and worked for the U.S. Army and NASA where he managed the development of several important systems including the Pershing missile and the Saturn V Moon rocket. In 1984 he was investigated for possible war crimes and was forced to leave the United States and renounce his US citizenship."

All times are CT (US)

next newest topic | next oldest topic

Administrative Options: Close Topic | Archive/Move | Delete Topic
Post New Topic  Post A Reply
Hop to:

Contact Us | The Source for Space History & Artifacts

Copyright 2020 collectSPACE.com All rights reserved.


Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.47a





advertisement