posted 01-10-2019 06:33 PM               

I'll start it off with several of my own selections in the first panel seen below. This assortment of mostly space covers are crew signed by first lunar surface explorers Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and moon orbiter Michael Collins. I've also added a few other selections signed by the backup crew along with some individual covers, postcards, and other items signed by separate crewmen. I've already traded off and sold about a dozen more of previously owned Apollo 11 crew signed covers and postcards from recent years, but I did keep copies of those for my collecting records.

The second panel of displayed covers contains autographs of mostly key Apollo 11 officials. Included are US Presidents Johnson and Nixon, long-time rocket pioneers, and Space Age personalities and leaders of our nation's goal in putting men on the moon for the first time in human history. I've tried to represent different cachet varieties, cover types, along with a wide assortment of autograph selections, at least, just for now.

Some of the names (autographs) represented in this brief selection for now (more may come later) are: moon rocket developer Wernher von Braun, Tom Paine, Robert Gilruth, George Low, Kurt Debus, the mission flight directors, John Houbolt, the wives of the astronaut crew, the lead spacesuit technicians, big space Congressional leader Olin Teague, key Apollo 11 launch team members, the parents of "The First Man," and one of my favorite autograph inscriptions — of which there are many — from German/U.S. rocket pioneer veteran Dieter Grau of the original V-2 and Saturn V rocket development team. His last sentence on the backside of the depicted Apollo 11 launch day orange-colored lunar landscape designed cover reads, "This launch of Apollo 11 observed from the colorful grandstand (VIP) among enthusiastic representatives from all over the world."

Two other depicted signed Apollo 11 covers, also by long-time rocketry specialists, are Konrad Dannenberg with, "Today mankind lefts its cradle to search for the stars!" and Helmut Zoike, a rocket pioneer since 1930 in Berlin, wrote, "Apollo 11 was the fulfillment of my life's dream and the culmination of my work in the missiles and space programs."

Well, there we have it — a good start, I hope, as we celebrate and commemorate mankind's 50th anniversary of humans leaving our own planet in search of another — the moon — in fulfilling a dream that many had thought would be impossible more than 50 years ago.

posted 01-12-2019 06:51 PM               

The signer of the lunar cratered landscape cover is German/U.S. space-engineer pioneer Dieter Grau of Huntsville, AL. He first joined the Dornberger/von Braun rocket development team at Germany's Peenemuende in 1943 and retired from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in 1973. Throughout his 30-year rocketry career, Grau designed electrical systems for the team's early rockets and manned spaceflight programs, eventually heading up NASA's quality and reliability assurance at Marshall. His quality standards for the aerospace industry were established under his guidance throughout all of the NASA organization nationwide.

One of his close work colleagues described Grau as the guy who had to verify the Saturn launch vehicle was safe for our astronauts to ride on. He touched 32 Saturn rockets that were all successful, that never failed, never carried a weapon, transported our first men to the moon and back, and orbited America's first space station with three astronaut crew visits. He had lived to be 101 years of age.

In referring to the Apollo 11 emblem covers, these were the exact same cachet-type covers that the flight crew themselves flew with them on their epic lunar voyage and kept others behind as their personal crew insurance covers.

The colorful mission patch-type covers were first available at the NASA Exchange souvenir-gift shops in June 1969 and on launch day at the main VIP viewing site areas on the Kennedy Space Center grounds itself.

posted 01-16-2019 11:54 AM            

There is also a pair of Fleetwood FDCs for the Paul Calle moon landing stamp which was released in September. One was mass produced with the "one small step for man" statement. The other with the corrected "small step for a man" quote was reprinted in a much smaller quantity.

posted 01-17-2019 11:56 AM               

Flown Apollo 11 covers are the rarest, and amounted to about 211. The most common are the ones adorned with Manned Spacecraft Center Stamp Club color cachets of two astronauts working on the lunar surface. These can be seen in Ken's collection, and are most probably insurance covers signed by the crew and left behind to be sold as extra income by the families in case anything happened to the astronauts.

posted 01-17-2019 12:55 PM               

Included in the collages, as pointed out, are crew signed insurance covers of all three types. I'll try to have a few others depicted later, though, as I am trying not to show those with similar or same-type cachet productions.

As a small tidbit, I've always wondered why the colorful MSCSC-issued covers for the first lunar landing didn't print their mission emblem at top left in color! It was done in black-n'-white, however, the rest of the cachet is so colorful, so why not do the whole cachet design in color?

You almost don't even notice the patch design at top left since there is so much color in the full cachet area, that it tends to overshadow the b/w emblem.

posted 02-19-2019 06:48 AM               

She was one of only about a dozen full-time support workers that had daily and complete access to KSC's astronaut crew quarters all throughout the Apollo-era.

The signatures referred to were definitely acquired by the crew themselves in their own quarters. They were also a part of the same crew signed "insurance" cover batches used by the crewmen for their families to be kept throughout the flight and afterwards.

It would appear that Dora had been gifted a few of the signed covers before launch, but for some reason, never had them postmarked.

For those that had been signed by the crew on the reverse side of the envelope(s), I really don't know why this had been done.

There were a handful (less than half a dozen or so) of the "reverse signed" MSCSC covers that Dora had acquired. Maybe she had intended to write mailing addresses on their front cover surfaces so that the crew autographs would not interfere in the address area, and for some unknown reason, never had them addressed nor mailed out.

posted 07-22-2019 08:00 AM               

Before postmarking htis cover, Mike Collins made 3 trial cancellations on a flight plan. Each Apollo 11 astronaut got one. In 2018 Neil's one was auctioneered. In my opinion the three are the Blue Mauritius of Astrophilately.

posted 07-20-2024 03:09 PM               

The top cover is a NASA/KSC official cacheted cover for Apollo 11's first anniversary and the bottom cover is for Apollo 11's second anniversary, both with outstanding hand stamp cancels.

posted 07-21-2024 06:41 AM               

Here are a couple of USA anniversary covers. I'm unsure who the cachet maker is for the top one (a first anniversary cover) but I love the use of the American bald eagle stamp, very appropriate.

The bottom one is a limited edition cover produced by Doc Nichol for the second anniversary and is cancelled by the relevant slogan postmark.

And as Apollo 11 came in peace for all mankind I thought this page from my album appropriate showing four first anniversary covers from around the world:

• Switzerland with pictorial meter postmark
  
• Madagascar with a themed FDC with matching stamp, cachet and cancellation
  
• Uruguay with a marvellously composed cachet featuring FDC stamp
  
• Taiwan first anniversary cover

Another page, this time featuring on the left a 5th anniversary cover from Washington D.C. USA, and a tenth anniversary cover from Marshfield in the UK, both with unique cancellations.

And on the right, a pair of 15th anniversary items signed by lunar astronauts, the top one a postcard signed by Michael Collins, and beneath a cover signed by Apollo 17 astronaut Jack Schmitt

And to round off, a 25th anniversary cover from Moon Kentucky; a 30th anniversary postcard with a special US cancellation together with a Peenemunde cancellation; and a FDC from Guernsey celebrating the 50th anniversary.

posted 07-26-2024 04:05 PM               

The second or final panel presentation contains anniversary covers mostly throughout the 1980/90's, however, I did include a few cover entries during the 2000's. As you can see, several of the used cachet covers had the original 1969 printed designs on them that I am a big fan of in using years later.