posted 09-14-2025 10:20 AM               

Space Cover 823: Live From Recovery

This Space Cover of the Week celebrates the technology that brought live television broadcasts from the Apollo recovery ships to the public. This oversized blue business envelope bears a hand cancel from the USS Ticonderoga (CVS-14) on the date of the Apollo 16 recovery, April 27th, 1972. One the left side is the US Navy applied Beck designed rubber stamped cachet for the recovery force in the pacific with the return address for General Electric's Space Division.

Within the envelope is a commemorative insert celebrating the successful recovery of the astronauts dated only April 1972, compliments of GE Space Division of Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, which would later become GE Aerospace. The GE connection here led to me research their involvement in the recovery. It is unfortunate that the peelable address label had been removed, however I was able to find out more information about GE's role in bringing the broadcast to television screens around the world.

Starting in October 1968 for the Apollo 7 mission, NASA in partnership with NBC, CBS, RCA, and GE implemented a system to broadcast live audio and video for the first time from the deck of the USS Essex. The audio-video broadcast is carried via Intelsat III to Jamesburg, California, and separate audio only via SFRAN radio antennas. The diagram from a recovery force report shows the various connections and communication streams.

Shown above is a photo of USS Ticonderoga during the Apollo 16 mission from which this weeks' cover originates, the crew is standing on the flight deck spelling out "APOLLO 16." The GE satellite communication terminal is located inside the 22-foot diameter white dome on the flight deck, complete with large GE logo and sign ,no doubt for advertising purposes.

Knowing that these covers existed, I was able to find a similar one from the Apollo 15 mission, hand cancelled on the USS Okinawa (LPH-3). It would stand to reason that they exist for the other Apollo missions, have you seen any others or have one in your collection? What other recovery covers do you have on business sized envelopes?

posted 09-15-2025 02:26 AM               

My Apollo 17 GE cover is identical to yours.

posted 09-16-2025 06:58 AM               

Also, it is interesting to see that the address label is peeled off on your cover in the very same way.