posted 03-22-2015 08:49 AM               

Space Cover #309: Gemini 3 at 50

Fifty years ago tomorrow, the first manned Gemini flight, Gemini 3, was launched. Gus Grissom and John Young performed a flawless three-orbit test flight of the new capsule. The cover above was machine cancelled at Cape Canaveral on the day of launch, March 23, 1965. It carries no cachet, just the hard-to-find autographs of the two crewmen.

I have a favorite story about this cover. Years ago, Stevedd841 and I visited a picnic being held by the Metropolitan Airmail Postal Society (MAPS) near New York City. Most of the people there were hardcore airmail collectors, but there were a few of us space geeks along as well. Well, one of the guys was looking through a box of mostly airmail covers for sale, when he pulled this cover out, for sale at $75. He asked if the autographs looked good, and both Steve and I affirmed that. Meanwhile, I was salivating since I did not have a Gemini 3 crew autographed cover. Well, after staring at the cover for several minutes, the unnamed collector put... the... cover... back... in... the... box and moved on! So, with me being next in line to look through that box, well, the rest is history.

Anyone else have any favorite Gemini 3 covers? Let's post them! I can host your cover image if you need, just email me the image.