posted 08-27-2023 06:43 AM               

Space Cover 716: Liberty Bell 7

Above is a Space Craft Cachet postmarked at Patrick AFB on July 21, 1961, when Virgil I (Gus) Grissom was launched on a 15.5 minute suborbital flight, known as Mercury-Redstone 4 (MR4) in a capsule named Liberty Bell 7. The cachet is #8 in Vukotich's "Space Craft Covers: A Monograph and Catalog" and he lists only 30 as having been made. It is often informally referred to as a "Green Grissom" being nearly identical to Space Craft Cachets issued for MR's 1 through 3, only in green ink instead of black.

All of you probably know that the flight was a textbook repeat of Shepard's earlier MR-3 flight, that is until after splashdown. As Liberty Bell 7 floated in the ocean, its hatch suddenly blew, it started taking on water, and Grissom had to swim for his life. One recovery helicopter tried to lift the capsule out of the water, but the waterlogged capsule was too heavy, causing too much strain on the helicopter engine, and the crew had to cut the cable to the spacecraft and let it sink. Meanwhile Grissom, swimming in a lot of rotor wash from the helicopter with his space suit filling with water through an open oxygen port, was finally rescued by another helicopter before further disaster. He was flown to the prime recovery ship, the aircraft carrier USS Randolph.

Here is a cover from the Randolph for Grissom's recovery. It features the "Randolph Over" hand cancel (the words "USS Randolph" are at the top of the die hub), and a Swanson self-serve rubber stamped cachet. "Randolph Under" postmarks also exist from the Randolph for this recovery.

After the flight, Grissom received all the medals that Shepard did, but not at the White House as Shepard had. And Grissom took a lot of (likely unfounded) blame for blowing the hatch too early. In 1999, Liberty Bell 7 was found and recovered from the ocean floor, and investigations indicated static electricity as the likely cause for the hatch to blow (not Gus).

So, let's show Gus some of the respect that he didn't get back then, and post your favorite MR-4 Liberty Bell 7 covers! And if any of you have covers for the recovery of Liberty Bell 7 in 1999, let's post those too!

posted 08-27-2023 09:15 AM            

I hope Ken and Tom note the very crisp Port Canaveral cancellation on the Zaso cover — very reminiscent of the early Sarzins.

posted 08-27-2023 05:30 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Axman:
I hope Ken and Tom note the very crisp Port Canaveral cancellation on the Zaso cover — very reminiscent of the early Sarzins.

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posted 08-27-2023 08:54 PM               

This is nothing new for a small USPS post office of that era with an additional work load of trying to handle and process so many space covers. During some peak years of the shuttle program at the Titusville/KSC P.O. branch, or sub-postal station, there had been in use for shuttle and other space mail about a half-dozen hand cancel impressions. Not all of them were identical, but with a few different, in various ways.

The current postal stations here on the Florida Space Coast all have more than one hand cancel stamp in use. There are two different sized and types of hand device cancellers now at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, soon to be closed for philatelic services, and several types (3-4) at Cape Canaveral.

posted 08-28-2023 11:46 AM               

Below are a few more different cachet types for Gus' Liberty Bell 7 flight in July 1961 and note the additional Grissom signed Swanson printed cachet covers. These were actually hand signed in person at the Patrick AFB on-site post office when Grissom used the air base for his Cape visits in flying in and out.

Early space cover servicer and postal worker Dave Finney, when working at the area postal stations at Patrick, Cocoa, and Rockledge, would see the Mercury astronauts inside the base post office on a few rare occasions. In late 1961 Grissom was on the air base at the post office mailing out some letters of his, Finney asked the MR-4 pilot after his flight that same year if he would sign a few covers for him over the counter. It just so happened that Finney always kept a hand full of Mercury flight covers with him in case "any of the guys dropped in."

The airmail cover signed at bottom (centered) was one that I had for many decades. It was a Liberty Bell 7 prime recovery ship cover, the USS Randolph, a Navy aircraft carrier that picked up an almost-drowned astronaut at sea and his spaceflight capsule, but unfortunately as we all know, LB-7 was not able to be saved and sunk to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

Another cover, at far right bottom, is one that Ray was asking to see. It's for LB-7's sunken recovered and retrieved Mercury spacecraft nearly 40 years afterwards. It's also signed by Curt Newport, the LB-7 expedition leader that brought Grissom's capsule back to its Cape/Port Canaveral launch site on July 21, 1999.

posted 08-28-2023 02:02 PM               

It would seem that MR-4 covers are indeed one of the most scarce crew signed U.S. manned spaceflight covers from 1961-75. Others in my opinion would be GT-3, GT-8, GT-10, Apollo 8, 16, and somewhat Apollo 13 with Swigert included and more with Mattingly added to the flown prime crew. As for Apollo 1 (AS-204), to the best of my knowledge, no pre-launch fully crew signed covers are known. I only have a single "signed" no cachet cover, but "signed" by autopens of the crew. Now concerning the original Gemini 9 crew of See and Bassett, once again, I did own a non-cachet cover with genuine autographs of the Gemini crew-assigned rookie astronauts together.

posted 08-29-2023 09:53 AM            

And, going back for a quick look through my albums, my missing astronaut signatures are a good though not exact match with your list above:

• Gus Grissom (MR-4 / Gemini 3 / Apollo 1) xxx
  
• Joseph A. Walker (X-15) xx
  
• Ed White (Gemini 4 / Apollo 1) xx
  
• Neil Armstrong (Gemini 8 / Apollo 11*) x autopen✓
  
• [Roger Chaffee (Apollo 1)] x
  
• William Anders (Apollo 8) x
  
• Jack Swigert (Apollo 13) x

posted 08-29-2023 11:12 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Ken Havekotte:
Maybe Bob will see this posting topic here and have it illustrated for us.

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Then I also had interest in stamps and subscribed to Linn's Stamp News. A small ad there offered a listing of astronaut signed covers for sale. It turned out to be a bonanza, with covers signed by almost all of the early astronauts, including many then deceased, such as Grissom, Chaffee, White, Givens, etc., plus von Braun, X-15 covers signed by Armstrong and covers signed by all seven Original Mercury Astronauts together.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I mostly took advantage of. However, I passed on a rare Grissom signed MR-4 Randolph cover because of fear that it was a Riser creation. But Ken "grabbed" it after I passed the listing on to him and Ken has shown it above. I believe the price was $275 and it turned out to be authentic as everything was.

Those were great days for us astronaut autograph collectors, with many astronauts signing for free thru the mail and also sometimes with significant material for sale or in auctions.

posted 08-30-2023 03:35 PM               

It seems that in Jan 31, 1961 it was still in use or it was used occasionally on request for collectors.

No later date for this PC "old postmark" I have never seen linked with a space event.

posted 08-31-2023 02:06 PM               

So, instead of me just showing the umpth Green Grissom, I thought I'd expand to show all the Liberty Bell 7 Space Craft Cachet variants. Below are Vukotich nos. 7 (top) and 7a. Three hundred of these cachets were printed, and the majority were postmarked at Patrick AFB (Vukotich no. 7). A small number were postmarked at Port Canaveral (7a). Note the "crisp" Port Canaveral postmark as discussed above in this thread.

Both of mine were addressed to J.R. Fitzpatrick, Swanson's partner in Space Craft Cachets. In case you are trying to read the tiny autograph on my no. 7, it's Jim Lewis who piloted the helicopter that so gallantly fought to keep Liberty Bell 7 afloat that day.

Below are Space Craft Cachets 8 and 9. Number 8 (top) is the proverbial Green Grissom, 30 listed as produced, and this one is signed by Gus. I bought it from the addressee about 20 years ago when he was liquidating his collection, for either $150 or $200, I don't remember which. Number 9 (bottom) is the Mercury Grissom limited edition, 50 made, and this one is no. 49 of 50. It has been autographed by Carl Swanson, the cachet designer.

posted 08-31-2023 03:40 PM               

If anyone is doing a count of the "green Grissom's" along with the better Swanson cachet printed covers, here are some of mine. I can't recall how many of the unsigned "green Grissom's" that I had altogether, maybe 15-20 or so, mostly from early space cover servicers and postal workers Finney and Nickel, but not all. Several had been traded and sold to fellow space cover collectors, a few dealers, and at space memorabilia shows throughout many years.

posted 09-04-2023 11:00 AM               

I like to think of this cover as being signed by the last person to touch the spacecraft prior to launch (Wendt), the last person to see the spacecraft (Lewis) and the person who found the spacecraft (Newport).