Space News
space history and artifacts articles

Messages
space history discussion forums

Sightings
worldwide astronaut appearances

Resources
selected space history documents

  collectSPACE: Messages
  Stamps & Covers
  Space Cover 647: Apollo 16 at 50

Post New Topic  Post A Reply
profile | register | preferences | faq | search

next newest topic | next oldest topic
Author Topic:   Space Cover 647: Apollo 16 at 50
micropooz
Member

Posts: 1642
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003

posted 04-19-2022 06:27 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for micropooz   Click Here to Email micropooz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Space Cover of the Week, Week 647 (April 24, 2022)

Space Cover 647: Apollo 16 at 50

Fifty years ago today, the Apollo 16 mission was underway, landing John Young and Charlie Duke on the Moon while Ken Mattingly orbited above. I couldn’t find just one favorite cover to show for Apollo 16 this week. So, in the spirit of Ken Havekotte (although my collection pales in comparison to Ken's) here is a montage of my faves!

Top row (L-R): KSC 4/16/72 launch Insurance-Type Cover bought from Ken Havekotte 10-15 years ago by my wife as a Christmas present for me (yep, GREAT wife!). KSC 4/16/72 launch Bendix Cachet (the Bendix’s are my favorite series of cachets). And Houston 4/16/72 launch MSCSC Cachet autographed by the crew, bought from a gentleman who worked at the JSC Arc Jet Facility at the time.

Middle Row (L-R): KSC 4/20/72 moon landing SpaceCraft Cachet autographed by the cachet designer Carl Swanson. Houston 4/20/72 moon landing on an Apollo 16 lunar descent map cachet showing the landing site, Descartes. KSC 4/25/72 with cachet depicting Mattingly’s deep space EVA to retrieve film from the Apollo Service Module on the way back from the Moon.

Bottom Row (L-R): USS Ticonderoga 4/27/72 recovery Beck Cachet B880. And USS Ticonderoga 4/27/72 recovery Captain’s Cover.

Any of you have any favorite Apollo 16 covers that you’d like to post? Please do!

Bob M
Member

Posts: 1821
From: Atlanta-area, GA USA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 04-22-2022 06:08 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Bob M   Click Here to Email Bob M     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Very impressive presentation of very special Apollo 16 covers, Dennis.

It was a great mission and certainly a lot of excellent covers were produced for it, including those you have shown.

I had just started collecting at that time, but did manage to acquire a number of Apollo 16 covers, including some more unusual ones, including covers with the Apollo 16 KSC ONC for Saturn V rollback and the second rollout. Also three covers relating to the PRS USS Ticonderoga: its arrival at Pearl Harbor prior to its deployment to the recovery area; its departure to the recovery area; and its "Welcome back" to Pearl Harbor with the spacecraft and crew, all with the PRS rubber stamp cachet. Also a cover from Hickham AFB Sta., Honolulu, HI for the crew's welcome there.

bobslittlebro
Member

Posts: 225
From: Douglasville, Ga U.S.A.
Registered: Nov 2009

posted 04-23-2022 06:33 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for bobslittlebro   Click Here to Email bobslittlebro     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Great set of covers Dennis.

I like the set of covers Bob. All of these I've never seen dates for. Good job.

cvrlvr99
Member

Posts: 197
From: Arlington, TX
Registered: Aug 2014

posted 04-25-2022 09:18 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for cvrlvr99   Click Here to Email cvrlvr99     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I first met Ken Havekotte the day before the Apollo 16 launch, to which I had been given a press pass. He introduced me to two German dealers who were there. A bus took members of the press to visit the VIP site and somehow, (mysteriously) I missed the bus back to the press site before the launch and had to stay at the VIP site, where I was given five VIP cards by one of the young ladies who distributed them there.

My telephoto camera caught the entire launch sequence and people all started leaving, but I had no transportation. About 100 yards away I saw the two German dealers heading toward their car and I ran over to see if I could hitch a ride back. As I got there one of the two was closing a briefcase and I glimpsed at hundreds of VIP cards inside. But I didn't want to screw up my only possible ride and didn't say anything.

In May, 1973, NASA suspended the issuance of VIP cards due to "duplicated cards created by overseas dealers" as I wrote on my exhibit page at the time. I didn't think about making a comparison of cards until the 1980 as I had noticed some minor anomaly between the cards that I'd received in person and a few that I'd obtained afterwards. So I decided to hold both, the ones that I knew were valid and a few unaddressed ones that looked suspicious, under a UV light. I found that those I suspected, from not only Apollo 16, but through the second Skylab mission all reflected a dull yellow color while the legitimate Apollo 16 cards that I had, reflected a bright white.

I talked with Leo Malz, a collector, dealer and lawyer, who told me that if I was going to report my filings, I should call them "Suspect" VIP Cards. I also went back to the Apollo 15 and earlier VIP cards and did not locate any other "suspect" cards.

This attachment shows my exhibit page with a card that I mailed to myself, with a closed globe machine cancel, alongside one of the suspect cards which has an Open Globe cancel applied at the Visitor Information Center.

Also, I'm showing a PRS Ticonderoga cover with a machine cancel. The ship's hand cancelling devices were left at Pearl Harbor along with the ship's postal clerks. The machine cancelling device was left on board the ship.

Someone on board covered an existing small cachet with a blue penned square and them applied an Apollo 16 decal over it. This is the only machine cancelled cover I have ever run across.

Ross
Member

Posts: 521
From: Australia
Registered: Jul 2003

posted 04-25-2022 10:35 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ross   Click Here to Email Ross     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
A couple more USS Ticonderoga machine cancels. The first was sold on eBay in 2013 while the second, an extremely rare helicopter recovery cover, is owned by Lee Kok How.

One my favourite Apollo 16 covers contains an amusing drawing.

Ken Havekotte
Member

Posts: 3477
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001

posted 05-23-2022 08:32 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ken Havekotte   Click Here to Email Ken Havekotte     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Not to forget Apollo 16 fifty years ago last month, here is a quick display panel presentation of some crew signed covers and sample space cover assortments featuring highlight mission events in April 1972.

My thanks to Dennis for starting this topic conversation of Apollo 16's 50th anniversary a month ago during the actual flight in April. I had not forgotten about the golden anniversary of man's fifth lunar landing mission, but just got too busy in doing another cover display montage in time for that same celebration month.

As for Ray in his above posting, I just can't recall meeting the German space cover dealers that he referred to during the actual Apollo 16 launch week in 1972. I was a high schooler and not that well-connected to the space cover scene until a few years later. I wasn't even at the press site for Apollo 16, but it looks like Ray might had been thinking about our first meeting and get together for either Skylab 3 in July 1973 or Apollo-Soyuz in July 1975.

The cachet designs below include a pre-launch crew signed ONC, several insurance covers, a signed VIP launch card, a MSCSC lunar map cover, one of the popular Orbit Covers for launch, a couple of KSCPS-issued covers, more official emblem crew-type signed covers, a Colorano "silk" cachet for lunar liftoff, Manned Spaceflight Covers for trans-earth injection, a CKM/Solar Covers for liftoff, one of the popular Space Voyage Covers by Robert Rank when the SIVB third stage rocket crashed into the lunar surface for moonquake studies, a couple of worldwide tracking station covers, and a rare Cygnus Riser Cover for an aborted CSM-Casper circulative engine burn on April 20 that delayed the moon landing a little, plus hundreds more that can't be shown in this confined area.

Bob M
Member

Posts: 1821
From: Atlanta-area, GA USA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 05-25-2022 09:51 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Bob M   Click Here to Email Bob M     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Enjoyed seeing your very special and impressive Apollo 16 cover display, Ken, especially the crew signed material.

As a crew signed cover collector, I know how hard it was to get Apollo 16 crew signed covers. Of the Apollo 7 through 17 crews, I'd consider Apollos 7, 8, 10, 11, 13 and 16 the most difficult to obtain.

But seeing your Apollo 16 crew signed VIP card reminded me of my failed quest of years ago of trying to find crew signed VIP cards for those eleven Apollo flights. It was an unrealistic quest for me and after finding several moved on to easier collecting pursuits.

I do wonder, Ken, how close you or any collector may have come to acquiring crew signed VIP cards for Apollos 7 through 17? Just finding crew signed flight covers for those eleven flights would be hard enough.

kosmo
Member

Posts: 503
From:
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 05-25-2022 11:43 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for kosmo     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
A question for both Ken or Bob, I know this is a little off topic, but now that VIP cards have been mentioned, do any exist for Apollo 8?

Ken Havekotte
Member

Posts: 3477
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001

posted 05-25-2022 12:03 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ken Havekotte   Click Here to Email Ken Havekotte     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks Bob for the comments and I do not have a full set of Apollo crew signed VIP cards. If I recall for now, I am missing Apollo 7, only Borman/Lovell on Apollo 8, and I don't have an Apollo 11 nor a completed 12, but do have the others and three for Apollo 13 and 15. As for Apollo 10, Bob, mine has a Cape Canaveral hand cancel for launch (not KSC though).

When considering the most difficult Apollo crew signed covers, I agree with Bob 100%, and to put them in order of the most difficult to acquire, here is my take on it:
First choice would be Apollo 8, second would be Apollo 11 even though we're seeing many crew insurance covers now on the market, third would be a tie in my opinion between Apollo 10 and 7, next would be Apollo 16 and perhaps Apollo 13 with Swigert, Apollo 9 and 14, and perhaps ending up with Apollo 17 and 15 in that order, or close to it. Apollo 17 was not that difficult, though, during the 1970's/80's, however, with Schmitt not signing that often these days, it's getting more tough for the last lunar landing crew with Schmitt mostly a non-signer as the only surviving crewman.

For Tom (kosmo), yes, official NASA-KSC VIP cards were issued for all the eleven manned Apollo missions from 1968-72, including the first Skylab program launches of SL-1 and 2 in 1973. For Glenn's return to space on Shuttle Mission STS-95 in 1998, my firm contracted with NASA in providing official VIP launch cards for that historic Discovery spaceflight. They had been available at the main VIP launch viewing sites and Press Site 39 as well.

kosmo
Member

Posts: 503
From:
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 05-26-2022 01:03 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for kosmo     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
A lot of these VIP cards on eBay seem to be coming from Germany, are these legit?

Ken Havekotte
Member

Posts: 3477
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001

posted 05-26-2022 01:32 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ken Havekotte   Click Here to Email Ken Havekotte     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I have not seen eBay with such VIP card listings and can't say without seeing some of those offers. Yes, though, some of the later look-a-like VIP cards had been produced that were not government issued, but were "look a-like" cards that were distributed during the later Apollo/Skylab programs. Some of the cards, however, had markings on them indicating that they were not official NASA cards, but rather souvenir or private VIP launch cards.

All times are CT (US)

next newest topic | next oldest topic

Administrative Options: Close Topic | Archive/Move | Delete Topic
Post New Topic  Post A Reply
Hop to:

Contact Us | The Source for Space History & Artifacts

Copyright 2022 collectSPACE.com All rights reserved.


Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.47a





advertisement