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Author
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Topic: John Glenn/Friendship 7 1962 world tour covers
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Cozmosis22
Member Posts: 1115
From: Texas * Earth
Registered: Apr 2011
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posted 12-28-2016 11:59 AM
  
After his orbital flight in February of 1962 astronaut John Glenn and his Mercury space capsule visited many nations of the world. Here are a couple of commemorative covers from that time. I am still looking, as there must be numerous others. |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 4069
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 12-28-2016 06:13 PM
An interesting topic as I do have some covers commemorating Glenn's "Friendship 7 worldwide tour stops," however, I've only got a few myself (lacking many) and there must be many other issues out there. Maybe even a full set of them might be possible, but I am not aware of any.I think Friendship 7 started its 3-month "fourth orbit" worldwide exhibition in May 1962 with a first stop-visit at the Science Museum in London. From there, some of the countries that were visited were Spain, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Egypt, France, Nigeria, Japan, the Philippines, and parts of Asia. It was reported that more than four million people viewed the history-making Mercury orbital spacecraft during the international tour with Asia being the most well received. |
Joel Katzowitz
Member Posts: 915
From: Marietta GA USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 12-29-2016 07:55 AM
Interesting. I have a security pass issued to and signed (twice) by Glenn dated May 8, 1962. Which was just five days after his visit with Titov in DC. I've always assumed that the pass was for entry into Cape Canaveral, but in taking a closer look there is no facility identification on it. It was issued by the U.S. Government and lists Glenn's organization with a hand written "NASA". I wonder if it's tied into the World Tour. |
MarylandSpace
Member Posts: 1451
From:
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted 12-29-2016 09:53 AM
I always enjoy my daily history classes with the vast knowledge my collectSPACE "professors" share with me and others online. My bonus classes are when I can attend live presentations by astronauts themselves. |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 4069
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 12-29-2016 04:12 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Joel Katzowitz:
I have a security pass issued to and signed (twice) by Glenn dated May 8, 1962.
Your NASA Glenn badge, Joel, sounds like a high-level security clearance badge to all NASA field centers and possibly other governmental and military facilities that Glenn may have or needed to visit. If there is no designated space center on the badge issue, are there any numbers on it and maybe a red border around it? |
Cozmosis22
Member Posts: 1115
From: Texas * Earth
Registered: Apr 2011
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posted 12-29-2016 06:42 PM
Here are a couple more that may belong in this series. |
Joel Katzowitz
Member Posts: 915
From: Marietta GA USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 12-29-2016 07:00 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Ken Havekotte:
...are there any numbers on it and maybe a red border around it?
The pass is light blue with no border. The number on the bottom left corner of the pass reads: PAA 37-6. 
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Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 4069
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 12-29-2016 08:02 PM
Not what I was thinking about, Joel, as the pass isn't the highest level "all access" security photo-badge that I have seen beforehand from several of the earlier NASA astronauts.It appears to be issued by Pan American Airways in May 1962, the Atlantic Missile Range of the Cape side. In my opinion, though, its more of a secondary or visitor-type access permit to a particular area that Glenn had a reason to visit (and probably just on that single day). During the Mercury era, PAA was the overall missile base complex "housekeeping" contractor that handled and supervised all the Cape-side security and fire services. Normally this type of a non-photo ID authorization pass, not laminated as well, would not be needed for such a person like Glenn. But apparently the form had been briefly filled-in and signed by the MA-6 pilot, less than three months after his epic Friendship 7 space voyage. |
Cozmosis22
Member Posts: 1115
From: Texas * Earth
Registered: Apr 2011
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posted 12-29-2016 08:06 PM
PAA ~ Pan Am Airways pass card on the way back from Buenos Aires?
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Joel Katzowitz
Member Posts: 915
From: Marietta GA USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 12-30-2016 07:30 AM
Ken, any idea what the "LBH" stands for? I've seen the same initials on several other temporary passes including one in a box labeled "Date (s) Valid". |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 4069
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 12-30-2016 08:25 AM
I am guessing "LBH" would be the initials of the security clerk issuing the pass to Glenn. Note that Glenn only signed the pass while someone else, possibly "LBH," filled-in the rest of it. A nice vintage authorization pass signed by Glenn, and twice at that, Joel! |
unknown symmetry
Member Posts: 80
From: UK
Registered: Oct 2015
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posted 01-13-2017 01:06 PM
Was this part of a separate later tour? Or an extension of that earlier 62 tour? This is a Friendship 7 cover signed by John Glenn and postmarked for Hamburg in Germany. |
Axman
Member Posts: 932
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023
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posted 05-19-2023 05:35 AM
The fourth orbit world tour began in Hamilton Bermuda on April 20th 1962. The capsule (without Glenn) went on to tour more than 20 countries in three months, including all with a NASA tracking station. It went via Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. It visited Argentina and the Philippines — which are the only two covers pictured above which are part of the fourth orbit world tour. The others depicted are extraneous to that tour. |
Bob M
Member Posts: 2110
From: Atlanta-area, GA USA
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 06-29-2026 10:56 AM
While probably not officially connected to Glenn's world tour that began in April 1962, this handsome cover was issued by Artmaster (?) to commemorate Glenn's visit to the United Nations in New York City on March 2nd — only about two weeks after his historic Mercury orbital flight. It displays two impressive UN stamps along with an interesting cancel (It would have been a great cover to have had autographed by Glenn).(Just as possible minor interest to any early space cover collectors, I purchased this cover in a Seymour Rodman auction in 1984 for $2.05. This was a good buy for me, but some others from Rodman weren't.)  |
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