NASA STS-44 Atlantis Launch-Day Cachet Signed by Tom Henricks View Watchlist >
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Lot # Nasa110Z2
System ID # 29525564
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NASA STS-44 Atlantis Launch-Day Cachet Signed by Tom Henricks — Greenbelt, MD, Nov. 24, 1991
The date on the postmark is not incidental — November 24, 1991 is the day Atlantis left the pad. This airmail cover was stamped and cancelled that same morning at Greenbelt, MD (ZIP 20770), the mailing district of Goddard Space Flight Center, by the team that tracked the shuttle from the moment of liftoff. The blue rubber-stamped cachet — "Goddard Space Flight Center Shuttle Tracking Team / Space Shuttle NASA / STS-44 Launch" — isn't a generic souvenir. It was produced by the people on console, and collectors who understand first-day covers feel the distinction immediately.
The cover bears a bold black-marker signature by Tom Henricks, STS-44 pilot, Air Force colonel, and first-time shuttle flyer on this mission. The 29¢ "America Becomes Arsenal of Democracy" WWII commemorative stamp — the only wartime-imagery stamp in USPS circulation that year — frames a cover tied to a classified DoD payload mission in the final weeks of the Soviet Union.
History
Thomas J. "Tom" Henricks logged 928 hours in space across four shuttle flights and flew more than 6,000 hours in over 30 aircraft types as an Air Force test pilot before NASA selected him in the 1985 class. STS-44 was his first flight — nine days aboard Atlantis, deploying a Defense Support Program early-warning satellite during a period of acute Cold War transition, the mission cut short by an IMU failure. A launch-day Goddard tracking cover signed by a crew member on the day of liftoff is the kind of specific convergence that doesn't surface often in the shuttle-era market.
Authenticity
A Certificate of Authenticity from Mesilla Valley Estate Sales will accompany this lot. For buyers seeking independent third-party authentication, the cover is suitable for submission to JSA, PSA/DNA, or Beckett.
CONDITION
Very Good. Envelope is clean and bright with a crisp cachet impression and a sharp, fully legible postmark. Signature is bold and unsmeared. Verso shows light handling and a small notation ("K5" in pink); no tears, stains, or creasing of note.
DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS
- Cover: 3 5/8" × 6 1/2"
- Postmark: Greenbelt, MD 20770 — Nov. 24, 1991, PM
- Franking: 29¢ "America Becomes Arsenal of Democracy" commemorative (1991)
- Cachet: Goddard Space Flight Center Shuttle Tracking Team / STS-44 Launch
- Signature: Tom Henricks (confirmed)
- COA: Mesilla Valley Estate Sales
