posted 06-28-2025 01:25 AM               

Space Cover 812: Houston STS-41G clock cancel

In Space Cover of the Week 521, you can find a post with two varieties for a hand Houston cancel regarding maiden space flight for Atlantis shuttle, which was launched in October 3, 1985 (mission STS-51J).

And now I show a cover regarding first EVA by an American female astronaut performed by Kathryn Sullivan in October 11, 1984 during the mission STS-41G.

Although Houston cancel is in blue, not the usual color in Houston space covers, it has a meaning. As it happened in almost all manned space shuttle missions, astronauts were split in teams what were identified by a color.

Obviously, Kathryn Sullivan was in blue team.

For this reason, cachet, Houston cancel and third Houston cancel were all applied in blue color. So, space cover shows a meaning and it is not a random choice by the cachet maker.

What is chasing me for a long time is this third cancel which seems clearly a Houston clock cancel. 10:46 AM is the time for the beginning of her EVA? Or for the end? Why were not applied two Houston cancels to be more precise? EVA lasted 3h and 29 minutes. Why was necessary to print just one hour? Why was needed to be precise in time and at the same time imprecise?

Thanks in advance to post below your thoughts and comments about this specific issue.