posted 09-01-2019 10:20 AM               

Space Cover 530: CONTOUR mission

Space career is full of unsuccessful missions. Sometimes a failed mission is followed by another successful but sometimes a failed mission is a lost forever.

Above cover belongs to launch of a Delta rocket with the spacecraft CONTOUR aboard.

CONTOUR, which stands for COmet Nucleous TOUR, was a spacecraft designed to observe in space the passage of two comets: Encke in 2003 and Schwassmann-Wachmann-3 in 2006.

However, after launch, a solid rocket failed and spacecraft did not reach the scheduled orbit into trajectory towards the comets. Subsequent analyses suggest that spacecraft may be disintegrated.

Although Encke comet has a short orbital period of approximately 3,2 years it has only been partially observed by STEREO-A spacecraft in 2007, and Schwassmann-Wachmann-3 comet has an orbital period of approximately 5,3 years, the nearest Earth encounter will not take place until 2022.

As astrophilately collects all kind of covers linked with space activity, it is possible today to remember this failed space mission with two covers.

Below cover depicts a beautiful pictorial postmark with CONTOUR probe near of a comet.

If anyone have other covers for this mission, please share your images here. Thanks.

posted 09-01-2019 02:57 PM               

The emblem-logo CONTOUR printed cachet cover shown above and below was a first cover of its kind. Why, because it was NASA produced, in partnership with SpaceCoast Cover Service, by the space agency's Expendable Launch Vehicles directorate (later NASA's Launch Vehicle Services) at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Kennedy Space Center.

One of the covers below also contains a postal strike from JPL/Pasadena, CA, on Aug. 15, 2002. On this day, nearly six weeks after CONTOUR's launch from the Cape, the Delta II's third stage solid rocket motor was ignited for the probe's earth orbit escape into a solar orbit for the comet encounters. Unfortunately, after the rocket motor had fired, contact with the deep space probe had been lost.

Large ground-based telescopes later found three objects traveling along the course near the spacecraft, leading to a conclusion that it had more likely exploded or disintegrated.

The NASA cachet cover depicted here was one of nine unmanned launch event covers produced in a series from July 2002 to Jan. 2005. In addition to the covers, doubled-sided printed insert cards were provided for each launch event. Both emblem cachet covers seen here were processed and cancelled by my firm, but authorized and paid for by NASA.

But there was another first with the application of two different launch activities on a single similar NASA-made cover. Perhaps as a space cover trivia question, does anyone know what launch project that was?

posted 09-02-2019 10:37 AM               

Unfortunately for me, my covers do not include these insert-cards so my info was limited to internet sources.

Especially interesting your cover double-cancelled in Pasadena for launch and "contact lost" for this mission. I wish I had one like this.