NASA Space Cover Collection — 16 Apollo & Space Shuttle Commemorative Covers, 1970–1995

A group of sixteen commemorative space program covers (cacheted envelopes) spanning the dramatic arc of American crewed spaceflight, from the Apollo 13 crisis of April 1970 through the Space Shuttle era of the 1990s. The Apollo 13 sequence is the heart of the lot: a run of C. Sarzin cachets postmarked Cape Canaveral, FL, tracking the mission day by day — successful launch April 11, the April 13 explosion, the abort and free-return loop around the Moon, the world holding its breath, and the safe Pacific splashdown aboard the USS Iwo Jima on April 17. Each carries an appropriate Apollo 8 "In the beginning, God…" six-cent stamp tied by Cape Canaveral cancels. C. Sarzin of Port Washington, Long Island, NY was a prolific event-cachet maker active from the 1960s through the 1980s, producing same-day or near-real-time cachets on commercially printed illustrated envelopes — a format that put the collector as close to mission time as the postal service allowed.

The remainder covers Apollo 17 — the final Moon voyage — with Sarzin launch and lunar-departure cachets plus two U.S. Navy Recovery Force covers: one Atlantic-force cachet postmarked Norfolk, VA (Dec. 19, 1972, with American Revolution Bicentennial stamp), and one Pacific-force cachet postmarked USS Ticonderoga (CVS-14) (Dec. 19, 1972, bearing the paired "United States in Space… A Decade of Achievement" 8¢ stamps). Shuttle-era pieces include three Grumman Aerospace Corp., Bethpage, N.Y. — "Builder of the Shuttle Wing" covers for Endeavour STS-67 (Bethpage, Mar. 2, 1995), Endeavour STS-57 (Bethpage, Jun. 21, 1993), and Discovery STS-53 (Bethpage, Dec. 9, 1992); an STS-1 NASA-letterhead cover from the NASA Kokee Tracking Station, Waimea, Kauai, Hawaii, directed to Fidel R. Rul, Jr., Director (Waimea, Apr. 13, 1981); a Goddard Space Flight Center Shuttle Tracking Team STS-35 launch cachet (Greenbelt, MD, Dec. 2, 1990); and a 1978 Marshall Space Flight Center Spacelab-1 payload specialists training cachet (Aug. 7, 1978) depicting all five ESA/NASA payload specialists — Ockels, Nicollier, Merbold, Lichtenberg, and Lampton.

The Grumman Aerospace "Builder of the Shuttle Wing" cachets are an overlooked category in space cover collecting. Grumman — best known for building the Lunar Module — fabricated the orbiter's delta wings, and the Bethpage postmarks on these three covers tie them directly to the factory floor. The Sarzin Apollo 13 sequence, five covers tracking the mission from launch through splashdown in near-real time, is the kind of coherent narrative run that holds together as a lot in ways that mixed single covers rarely do. The USS Ticonderoga Pacific Recovery cover bearing the paired space achievement stamps is particularly well-matched philatelically: the ship that recovered Apollo 17's capsule, the stamps commemorating the decade of achievement the mission closed.

CONDITION

Very Good overall. Covers are clean with crisp cachets and legible postmarks throughout; the Spacelab-1 cover shows light foxing spots to the upper portion, and the Discovery STS-53 cover has minor scattered ink flecks to the face. Most covers are stored in protective sleeves. Two blank envelope versos carry light pencil notations in the top center.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Each cover: 3 5/8" × 6 1/2"
• Quantity: 16 covers
• Date range: April 1970 – March 1995
• Missions / events represented: Apollo 13 (5 covers), Apollo 17 (4 covers including 2 Navy Recovery Force), STS-1, STS-35, STS-53, STS-57, STS-67, Spacelab-1
• Primary cachet maker: C. Sarzin, Port Washington, L.I., New York 11050
• Notable cachets: Grumman Aerospace Corp. "Builder of the Shuttle Wing" (3); NASA Kokee Tracking Station official letterhead; USS Ticonderoga (CVS-14) ship's postmark; Goddard Space Flight Center Shuttle Tracking Team
• Stamps include: Apollo 8 6¢ (multiple), "United States in Space… A Decade of Achievement" 8¢ se-tenant pair, American Revolution Bicentennial 8¢, various flag and definitive issues