posted 05-10-2026 09:45 AM               

Space Cover 857: Spacelab 1/STS-9

This Centennial cover marks the announcement of the five Spacelab 1 Payload Specialist finalists and is autographed by them. Below is a cover canceled for the STS-9/Spacelab 1 launch, with a Houston Spacelab 1 pictorial cancel.

Spacelab 1 was a pressurized module, located in the cargo bay of Space Shuttle Columbia. It served as a laboratory to carry out scientific experiences in space.

Spacelab 1 was launched on Columbia on STS-9 and was the first of 22 Spacelab scientific missions from 1983 to 1998. While in space for 10 days, over 70 scientific experiments were carried out by the Spacelab 1 crew. Experiments were carried out 24-hours a day, in two 12-hour shifts.

Also of note, STS-9/Spacelab 1 featured the first non-American in space, Ulf Merbold of West Germany, and the first non-NASA Astronaut, Bryan Lichtenberg. They were also the first Payload Specialists to fly on the shuttle.

Completing the crew were John Young, commander (his sixth and final spaceflight), Brewster Shaw, pilot, Owen Garriott, mission specialist and Robert Parker, mission specialist.

The top cover is canceled at KSC for the STS-9 launch, and also canceled at Edwards AFB for landing with a large pictorial landing cancel. The cachet illustrates the partnership of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) in the Spacelab 1 mission. The bottom cover is autographed by the STS-9 crew, with a handsome STS-9/Spacelab 1 emblem cachet.