Wally Schirra Signed Apollo 7 SpaceShots Card & 1968 Launch-Day Cover

A two-piece Apollo 7 autograph lot, both pieces signed by Mission Commander Wally Schirra. The first is a 1990 SpaceShots First Series card (No. 0018), "Apollo 7 — Third Stage Over Cape," picturing the Saturn IVB third stage with its adapter petals open above Cape Canaveral. The card face carries a bold black felt-tip Schirra signature. The verso reproduces the mission emblem and the card's full descriptive text, noting that the photograph itself originated as a mental image Schirra formed during pre-flight simulation — when he was required to fly the spacecraft in formation with the separated third stage.

Paired with the card is a 1968 Apollo 7 commemorative cover, postmarked West Nyack, N.Y., Oct. 11, 1968 — the mission's launch date — franked with a 6¢ Flag over White House stamp. The cachet lists the mission's firsts: first three-man flight, Saturn 1-B booster, first live television from a space capsule. Portraits of Schirra, Donn Eisele, and Walter Cunningham appear on the face; Schirra's ink signature runs across the crew portraits. Together the two pieces document the flight that returned American astronauts to space following the Apollo 1 fire.

CONDITION

Very Good. The SpaceShots card is clean and sharp with a dark, unfaded Schirra signature and light handling only. The cover is bright with a clear postmark strike and intact stamp; the Schirra signature across the crew portraits is legible, and the reverse shows a pencil notation. Both pieces housed in protective sleeves.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Card: 3½" × 2½"
• Cover: 3½" × 6½"
• Card: SpaceShots First Series No. 0018, ©1990 Space Ventures, Inc.
• Cover postmark: West Nyack, N.Y., Oct. 11, 1968
• Franking: 6¢ Flag over White House stamp
• Certificate of Authenticity issued by Walter Schirra Dale Gardner Mesilla Valle Estate Sales
• 2 pieces