posted 09-03-2010 04:55 PM               

Space Cover #73, Comet Kohoutek

In early 1973, NASA was preparing to launch its first space station Skylab. A Czechoslovakian astronomer Lubous Kohoutek discovered a comet near Jupiter's orbit on March 7, 1973. It was discovered farther from the sun and earlier than previously reported comets. Presented with eight months lead time, astronomers around the world began planning extensive and systematic observations. A special "Operation Kohoutek" office was established at Goddard Space Flight Center to coordinate NASA's observations; it also coordinated activities with the Smithsonian Observatory, Kitt Peak National Observatory and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Existing instruments constituted the bulk of NASA's program even though all of them were designed for other purposes. Mariner-10, OSO-7 and the Apollo Telescope Mount on Skylab were the principal ones used to observe the comet.

The above cover was autographed by Lubous Kohoutek who sighted the comet while observing at the Hamburg-Bergedorf Observatory in Germany. Cover was cancelled on January 15, 1974 on date of its closest approach to earth.

posted 09-17-2010 09:54 AM               

The cover that in question was printed by John Shue but was my design. There were a couple of hundreds printed and canceled in various places - Greenbelt and Smithsonian American History, around the same period there was a NRL cachet used for that event.

The rubber cachet design was taken from a front page of a report for "Operation Kohoutek" which Goddard SFC was in charge. Dr. Stephen F. Maran was the Project Manager. I sent the design to a friend in Germany who do a lot of making of rubber stamp. The GSFC Stamp Club used it for the covers which was send to Goddard PIO & Club for the Kohoutek.