posted 01-09-2011 06:19 PM               

This is how the completed and orbited flown cover for STS-8 Challenger, serial number 1,356, was supposed to look with the completed launch aboard Challenger cancel of August 30, 1983, and the returned to Earth Edwards AFB, CA cancel of September 5, 1983. So, does a low serial number guarantee that the STS-8 cover is flown? Answer, no, but it is probably a better probability for a space cover collector to have a low serial numbered Challenger cover to hedge one's bet.

Space Cover #91, Unflown USPS STS-8 Challenger Cover?

It was going to be a spectacular coup! NASA and the USPS were planning to offer flown STS-8 Challenger covers in a special folder to space cover collectors for NASA's 25th anniversary. The covers to be flown on Challenger on the STS-8 mission would have a KSC cancel for the first day of issue of the USA $9.35 express mail stamp, noting, "Space Mail, Orbited Via STS-8" and with a fancy star cancel, stating NASA 25th anniversary 1958-1983 canceling the high value $9.35 stamp. Added to the cover would also be a launched aboard Challenger cancel of August 30, 1983 and a returned to Earth Edwards AFB, CA cancel of September 5, 1983.

That was the NASA and USPS plan, but sometimes plans go awry. There was a limit imposed by the USPS to sell only one flown cover per person with sales beginning after the landing of Challenger at Edwards AFB, California, September 5, 1983. However, sales to individuals were not the determining factor for the covers as the quantity of flown covers was 259,377 covers from the Challenger's orbital flight. If a collector wanted one (or several) one could get them. By the middle of November, USPS staff had sold all of the prized flown covers for the flight, a total of 261,899, covers sold at $15.35 per folder with a STS-8 flown and orbited cover included in the special folder.

The flown cover with serial number 0 was sent to the National Postal Museum in Washington, DC. Covers with serial numbers 0-1,000 had been carried in the STS-8 crew compartment. The remaining covers of the 261,900 allotment had been flown in the space shuttle's cargo section in special containers that could be offloaded easily after the Challenger's flight. Some covers were damaged during handling and further processing after the flight. A subtotal of 2,532 damaged and mishandled covers were reported destroyed and the over produced number of covers that were not on the STS-8 flight were also ordered destroyed. However, please note this, cover serial numbers below 261,900 do not mean a cover was flown, nor does a serial number above 261,900 guarantee a cover was not flown, so "caveat emptor" in your purchase of these covers.

Now I have a cover, serial number 276,136, with a few things may be missing, namely the launched aboard Challenger cancel and also the returned to Earth cancel, leaving only the KSC space mail cancel and orbited via STS-8 cancel for NASA's 25th anniversary and marking this cover as unflown in spite of the cancel on it.

So, why is an unflown cover for STS-8 significant? Answer, there were extra STS-8 anniversary covers printed and serviced, but not all of them were flown and those that were incomplete or damaged were ordered destroyed by the USPS. This cover was unflown, but somehow missed the USPS destruction instructions.

Special thanks is given to Robert Pearlman and Uzzi69 for discussing this interesting STS-8 flown cover subject earlier, June 24, 2002. The author does not hold the official list of flown and unflown cover serial numbers, but my cover serial number 276,136, and missing the other two cancels for completing the STS-8 Challenger's flight most assuredly appears to identify the cover as unflown, or ...does it?

posted 01-09-2011 06:43 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by stevedd841:
...most assuredly appears to identify the cover as unflown, or ...does it?

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I would think that it is just as plausible that your cover flew but accidentally missed getting the launch and landing cancels.

Did this cover come packaged with the same tri-fold folder as the others?

posted 03-04-2011 07:53 AM               

From a rarity stand point, does anyone have a STS-8 cover NOT flown, with the number listed in this report.

posted 04-18-2011 07:55 PM            

From the sound of it, most or all of the unflown covers were destroyed as planned. It seems that if you have a cover, it's either flown, making it valuable, or unflown but intact, which might make it even more valuable (certainly rarer.)

posted 05-25-2015 09:38 AM               

I sent off for three covers using my name and my two sons names. One of the three came back with the correct postmarks on the front, but missing the one on the back. It is number 167647. I think that it was 7 years later in 1990 when Bob Boyd and I drove down to Houston and Dan Brandenstein was there. Bob had asked for and received Truly's autograph on his regular cover immediately after receiving it.

When Bob asked Brandenstein to sign it, he said, "Well, the boss told us not to sign these, but I guess if he signed this one, it's ok for me to sign it too."