posted 06-16-2018 09:53 AM               

Space Cover #471: US Space Stamps Postmarked Sheet

This week's Space Cover of the Week isn't a cover at all but is actually a high quality sheet of paper with 29 postmarked US space stamps attached. That's a simple description for something containing examples of just about every US space-related stamp issued up to the time that the sheet was canceled.

But in actuality, it's a sheet canceled for the first day of issue of the $2.40 Priority Mail moon landing stamp of 1989 and bearing the standard "First Day of Issue" cancel, plus several other relevant cancels marking the 20th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

The moon landing first day of issue sheet also has earlier issued stamps canceled from KSC, Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island, plus a standard Titusville, FL hand cancel and Apollo 11 Titusville/Moonport Sta. pictorial hand cancel. An Apollo 11 emblem label completes this space stamp/cancel/First Day of Issue presentation.

This second stamp sheet is canceled for STS-44, the 75th US manned spaceflight. For launch, it bears cancels from KSC, Cape Canaveral, Patrick AFB, and Merritt Island, and Edwards AFB for the landing. Being over two years later than the moon landing first day of issue/anniversary sheet, it has a few later stamps, including three examples of the 1989 Future Mail Transportation stamps and one of the ten Planets stamps issued in 1991.

Each sheet exhibits the first US postage stamp to show a rocket: the 1948 Fort Bliss commemorative stamp picturing a V-2 rocket launch, and each sheet includes stamps commemorating Robert Goddard, Mercury, Gemini, Viking, Skylab, Apollo, ASTP, the space shuttle, etc.

These impressive stamp/cancel sheets are the handiwork of well-known space collector and space enthusiast Ken Havekotte. Much effort, time and travel went into the creation of these very special space stamp sheets and the results are basically one-of-a-kind space and philatelic mementos.

These sheets display many of the space stamps we space cover collectors have used on our covers and that grace countless space covers going back to the very early days of space exploration.

posted 06-16-2018 02:54 PM               

Other sheets were done for a few other Shuttle flights, including the first launch of Endeavour on STS-49 in 1992.