posted 11-20-2012 10:46 PM               

Space Cover #188: NAASM card?

Named in honor of the accomplishments of Neil Armstrong, first man to set foot on the moon, the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum (NAASM) in Wapakoneta, Ohio, chronicles Ohio's contributions to the history of space flight. Among the items on display are the F5D Sky Lancer, the Gemini VIII spacecraft, Apollo 11 artifacts and a moon rock.

On July 20, 1972, three years to the day after Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon, the Armstrong Air and Space Museum opened to much fanfare. Armstrong himself was present to help open the facility, and Tricia Nixon Cox, standing in for the President, presented moon rocks brought back to Earth from the Apollo 11 mission.

For space philatelists the NAASM created a series of yearly covers cancelled many times with a special pictorial cancel. Most covers, but not all, are numbered. The one pictured above, for example, was cancelled on July 20, 1983 for the fourteenth anniversary of the Apollo 11 moonlanding. This cover is numbered NAASM-13 in the lower left corner. These covers have proven to be a popular collection to keep up with.

In 1991 for the twenty second anniversary of the moonlanding NAASM not only created a cover but also issued a series of cards honoring the twelve moonwalkers. There were four colors of cards - white, beige, orange, and blue - all numbered NAASM 22. Interestingly, all of the cards are printed with "Neil Armstrong Space Museum" instead of the "Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum."

Three different cancel combinations appear on the cards - Wapakoneta killer bar, Wapakoneta pictorial, and both on the same card. The cancel combinations are shown in the scan.

While the NAASM covers tend to be fairly common to find these cards seem to be rarely seen. This is the only year I have seen cards produced for. There was also one year (I don't know which one) where a full page document was created and cancelled. There is also one year a cover that has a silk cachet was produced. So if you find any of these...