posted 09-21-2025 11:30 AM               

Space Cover 824: KSC facility covers

Collectors of space covers are familiar with covers that have cachets referred to as 'Official NASA Cachets (ONCs)'. These are covers, starting with the opening of the KSC Postoffice on July 1, 1965, that have rubber stamp cachets, or in the case of Apollos 7 and 8, stickers, that were applied to covers cancelled at the KSC P.O. and made with rubber stamps used at that P.O. But there are other covers that are cancelled at the KSC P.O. with mission emblem cachets with return addresses of buildings or NASA groups located at the Kennedy Space Center. For example there are covers with the following return addresses:

• Flight Crew Training Center
  
• Manned Spacecraft Operations Building
  
• Spaceflight Meteorology Group

In addition to the Apollo 16 cover shown above I have covers from Apollo 17, and Skylabs SL-1, SL-2 and SL-3 with either Flight Crew Training Center or Manned Spacecraft Operations Building return address.

As examples here are covers for Apollo 16, Apollo 17, SL-1 and SL-2.

These covers are different from some of the Gemini covers that have a return address of the Goddard Network Liaison Office that have the same cachets as the Official NASA Cachet covers.

So, my questions are:

• Who made the rubber stamps that were used to apply the cachet to these covers?

• Can these be considered another type of Official NASA Cachet covers?

• Are there other missions that have these return addresses?

• Are there covers with KSC return addresses from other buildings/groups for Apollo and Skylab missions?

posted 09-21-2025 06:17 PM               

Even the ones with the Visitors Information Center (VIC) for the later Apollo and Skylab missions were never approved nor authorized by KSC-NASA/TWA at the time

Take for instance the "Flight Crew Training Center," which NASA never used. It was known officially as the "Flight Crew Training Building."

They had been produced by E. Colle, a German space cover and stamp dealer throughout the Gemini/Apollo/early shuttle program years.

posted 09-21-2025 09:55 PM               

That said, the covers from the Spaceflight Meteorology Group are legitimate. They only provided their return address corner card and no cachet.