posted 01-07-2024 09:06 AM               

Space Cover 735: Autographed Covers, Unfinished Business

If you collect astronaut autographed Space covers chances are pretty good you have several of these covers in the drawers, binders and boxes housing your collections.

I refer to them as the dreaded, "Almost" complete crew signed covers!

These covers are the ones that for whatever reason you just were not able to complete getting the entire crew to autograph. Don't get me wrong they are still nice covers, just not ultimately what you intended to have in your collection.

I have a really nice Apollo 8 launch cover (above) that astronauts Frank Borman and Bill Anders signed for my father, but not signed by Jim Lovell. With all the opportunities over the years at Spacefest and ASF events I never thought to have it signed by Jim Lovell who I saw and interacted with many times.

In the 1980's you may have mailed a cover to Neil Armstrong who signed your Apollo 11 cover, then had Buzz Aldrin autograph at Spacefest only to be unable to complete the crew with Michael Collins.

Apollo 13 without Jack Swigert, Apollo 17 missing Ron Evans. I have two covers signed by Apollo 7 crew members Wally Schirra and Donn Eisele but again no Walt Cunningham who attended most of the same events I did over the past two decades and was always a very gracious signer.

In my collection there are many Apollo 9 covers signed by Jim McDivitt and Rusty Schweickart but remain unsigned by Dave Scott. This cover showing a photo of the crew discussing their mission with members of Congress dated March 27, 1969 and cancelled in Washington DC is the one I really would like to have Dave Scott's signature.

Another example is an Apollo 15 Splashdown cover cancelled on the USS Okinawa August 7, 1971 signed by astronauts Al Worden and Jim Irwin as well as Captain Andrew Huff and Rear Admiral Thomas Haywood along with US Navy Recovery pilot Steve Coakley. A really nice cover, but missing a Dave Scott signature.....

Another type of "unfinished" cover is the crew signed cover where one of the crew signatures is an autopen.

This Apollo 14 cover with nice signatures of Alan Shepard and Stuart Roosa, later returned in the mail with Ed Mitchell's autopen signature. I suppose that's better than the cover never being returned at all which I'm sure was the fate of many autograph seekers. Unfortunately again I look back at the many years that Ed Mitchell attended events and mail-in in signings where I missed out on completing an authentically signed crew cover.

One type of these "incomplete" covers I wish I had thought to collect years ago were covers signed by each pair of Moon Walkers cancelled during their EVA's on the Moon. I'm sure there is someone in this group that has a complete collection of these covers.

I'm envious, so please share!

posted 01-11-2024 04:21 PM               

For one example, Apollo 8 covers signed by Borman and Lovell, but lacking Anders, are relatively common and many of us have one, including me.

Here are just three more examples of mine that will forever remain incomplete:

*STS-51L launch cover signed by all but Greg Jarvis
*Excellent Apollo 7 Heritage Craft cover missing Donn Eisele (arrangements were made for him to sign a number of covers, but there was a delay and he passed away
*STS-121 crew signed cover signed by all but shamed crew member Lisa Nowak. Covers signed by the entire crew are fairly rare.