posted 06-12-2022 10:23 AM               

Space Cover #654: Orbital Flight Tests: Space Shuttle and Starliner

Boeing's recent successful unmanned Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) of their Starliner spacecraft brought back fond memories of the Space Shuttle's OFTs in the early 1980's. Unlike Boeing's two unmanned test flights, NASA's Shuttle flew four very successful manned OFT's, after which NASA announced the Shuttle system operational.

Eight astronauts were selected to form four two-man crews for the four Shuttle OFT flights. But the unexpected retirement of Fred Haise resulted in his crewmate Vance Brand being moved to STS-5 and Ken Mattingly and Hank Hartsfield selected to take Haise's and Brand's place, who then flew on the fourth Orbital Flight Test, STS-4.

The cover at the top has autographs of the original eight OFT astronauts: Young and Crippen, Engle and Truly; Lousma and Fullerton; and Haise and Brand. But after Haise's retirement, I decided to have their replacement crew, Mattingly and Hartsfield, sign the cover, which they nicely did. I then decided to have the STS-5 crew also sign the cover and started with Bob Overmyer (1981), Joe Allen (1986) and Bill Lenoir (1986). So with Brand's autograph already on the cover, those four autographs then included the STS-5 crew on the cover.

The 13 total autographs resulted in autographs of (1) the eight flown OFT astronauts; (2) autographs of the four astronauts, Haise and Fullerton and Engle and Truly, who piloted Enterprise on the Approach and Landing Test flights (ALT); and (3) autographs of all the astronauts who flew on the Shuttle's first five flights, STS-1 through STS-5.

The cover below it is a nice four-cancel cover created by Ken Havekotte, with launch cancels for the four OFT flights: STS-1, STS-2, STS-3 and STS-4.

Shown above are four nicely autographed covers by the first four Space Shuttle flight crews: the eight OFT astronauts, with each crew's mission emblem cachet.

In an earlier post here shows an impressive cover autographed by the original eight OFT astronauts, plus the replacements of Mattingly and Hartsfield.

posted 06-12-2022 02:36 PM               

I'm guessing the STS-1 cover with the 13 autographs were obtained through 13 separate mailings?

posted 06-14-2022 06:10 AM               

However, the unexpected retirement of Fred Haise changed things with the OFT program and also with me. As explained above, I sent both covers to Hank Hartsfield for his and Ken Mattingly's autographs, resulting in both covers being complete again.

posted 06-14-2022 11:14 AM               

Some of those OFT signed covers that I have came from you my friend, but also, I remember a similar project for STS-1. Not with just the first shuttle astronauts to fly, but I also recall a similar multi-signed cover(s) project by all the major NASA Center Directors.

Other early shuttle related cover projects that we have worked on together included multi-signed covers by the backup/support astronaut teams, Capcoms, flight directors, and other key personnel.

posted 06-15-2022 10:39 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Ken Havekotte:
I also recall a similar multi-signed cover(s) project by all the major NASA Center Directors.

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The most ambitious and riskiest autograph project was sending two covers to each of the major NASA Centers for the Center Directors to sign together. The result were two covers signed by ten NASA Center Directors who were directors during the time of the first Space Shuttle flight, STS-1.

Among those signing the two covers were Alan Lovelace-acting NASA Administrator; Robert Forsch-NASA HQs; Chris Kraft-JSC; and William Lucas-MSFC.