posted 03-17-2013 06:22 PM               

Space Cover #205: Kennedy Space Center Cancels

Since July 1, 1965, the KSC post office has been using a cancel which depicts a rocket launch. It has been used to cancel thousands of launch covers for launches. The last day of use was February 28, 1977.

On March 1, 1977 a new cancel which depicted a top view looking down on the shuttle was introduced. NASA did not like the way this cancel looked so they introduced a new cancel on July 1, 1977 which incorporated the shuttle program logo in its design. 20 cities including KSC received the cancel dies. If anybody would like a list, please email me.

posted 03-19-2013 07:13 AM               

For about two months after the July 1, 1965, opening of the main KSC postal facility, in use at the on-base postal site was a wavy seven line machine cancel.

There was also a second Saturn launch cancel with a slightly different variation of the Saturn launch vehicle, the rocket's thrust, and the NASA meatball logo. It was first used for the Apollo 12 launch in Nov. 1969.

Next in line was a Skylab pictorial cancel device. It was in use at the KSC post office all throughout the Skylab program from 1973 to early 1974.

On April 8, 1974, NASA went back to using the old Saturn rocket cancel device until, as John noted in starting this topic, it was last seen on Feb. 28, 1977.

But we shouldn't forgot about another "in between" cancel use at the Kennedy Space Center. The U.S. postal service produced a special cancel celebrating the nation's Bicentennial Exposition on Science and Technology from May 30 - Sept. 6, 1976, at our nation's KSC/Spaceport USA.

The first use of a shuttle-related pictorial cancel at Kennedy took place on March 1, 1977, but only to be replaced by another shuttle postal cancel design on July 1, 1977.

With the shuttle program closure in 2011, I wanted to use a new, non-shuttle related pictorial cancel device at the space center here, possibly something in relation to the International Space Station. But there has been no formal action nor any serious discussions about it to date.

Keep in mind, though, that starting in May 1991 was the beginning of many notable space-related events in which there had been a special KSC-pictorial cancel issued for.

posted 03-19-2013 10:23 AM               

There are/were branch offices of KSC's mail handling and processing units located in nearby Orlando and Titusville that provided such services. Most, of course, came from Titusville, across from the Indian River, with Kennedy Space Center only a few miles away.

The space center also had its share of Kennedy-provided first day of issue cancellation types from Sept. 1967 onwards, both machine and hand varieties.

But not known to most astrophilatelists was a short-lived Merritt Island station that provided a KSC-hand cancel for philatelic uses in 1989.

posted 03-20-2013 08:43 AM               

• Type 1 cancel, first used on July 1, 1965 for about two months
  
• Type II cancel
  
• Type III
  
• Type IV. V.I.C. type (Visitors Information Center) cancel used on only seven occasions: Apollo 12 through 17 manned flights and the WESTAR unmanned launch of April 13, 1974

• Type V, first day of use of Skylab cancel. Used from May 14 (PM), 1973 to April 7, 1974
  
• VIC cancel reused for one day for WESTAR launch
  
• First day of reuse of Type III cancel
  
• KSC Bicentennial Expo cancel, type II, HQ's Bldg.

• Last day of use of type I Bicentennial Expo cancel, Expo Station
  
• First Day of reuse, type III cancel
  
• NASA 25th Anniversary machine cancel, used for STS-8 and STS-9 in 1983