posted 05-22-2021 03:41 AM               

Space Cover 609: A space cover without postmark. Is this possible?

Astrophilately means postmark.

Postmark is the key element for deciding if a cover is a space cover or just a commemorative cover with space images. After postmark, cachet is the second most important element in astrophilately and finally, signatures for personnel involved in programs are a plus.

Then, if a cover shows any postmark, can it be considered a space cover? A genuine astrophilatelic cover? Normal answer should be NO. However, there are a few exceptions. These are rare, and probably the cover pictured is a good example.

Ours space flown covers are covers postmarked onboard the different Soviet (now Russia) space stations and currently onboard ISS. Also covers carried in rockets or other spaceships are considered space flown covers.

Above depicted cover was carried on Soyuz MS-10, launched from Baikonur on Oct 11, 2018. However, approximately 2 min after launch a failure in Soyuz-Fregat carrier forced to re-entry following a ballistic trajectory, and capsule with crew, previously separated from the rocket, landed in Dzhezkagan (Kazakhstan). Space flight lasted only 19 min and 41 sec and flight maximum altitude was 50 km, around 164.000 ft.

Cover was signed by cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin, who hand-wrote: “11.10.2018 this cover was on board of the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft inside the Orbital module”.

In normal circumstances, this cover would have arrived to ISS and received there the ISS onboard postmark on docking date with Dragon CRS-17 which happened on May 6, 2019.

posted 05-28-2021 01:57 PM            

A postmark from somewhere nearby the launch site applied to the stamp, in this case a Russian ASTP commemorative, would have helped verify where this cover was located on launch day.

posted 05-29-2021 03:47 AM               

Prior to the invention of the stamps, until before 1840, mail worked without stamps, just hand-written notes or different seals. And this is philately. And nowadays, when using stamps is only an option, you can receive corresponde without stamps, just with some facts for date and/or place, equivalent to a postmark. And also this is philately.

However, I am absolutely agree with you when you say that a postmark could have supported some kind of evidence for this cover. This is the key of my post: a space cover without postmark.

All covers carried by cosmonauts to be cancelled onboard ISS with, for example, docking date, etc do not bear postmark from launch place. It is because covers are stored some days before to real launch date.

In this specific case, when Soyuz MS-10 come back to Earth, it would have been preferable that cover would receive any postmark from the return place, with correct date, or at least with date of opening package where covers were located. And not only with the Alexei Ovchinin hand-written note about these covers!

No postmark evidence except this note, and for sure this cover was intended to be postmarked onboard ISS because the source from I bought it is absolutely 100% reliable.

Sometimes, space covers come into our hands as is and they are not how our minds would like. In this case, this cover, as shown, but with an additional postmark from return place/date would be more desirable than is it now. It is how the cover was made, the history behind it, and the explanation of why it has no postmark.

posted 05-29-2021 10:08 AM               

I have heard of many covers from scientists and others that were returned under separate cover rather than postmarked even though the request was something like "please sign and mail on the date of the launch," plus the number of times something was mailed but reached its destination without a postmark, or only a partial cancel without the city/date.

They help document these events but it is not their job to produce accurate astrophilatelic covers.

posted 05-30-2021 02:46 AM               

We already discussed this cover and the space flight itself. It was not my intention to repeat this history but pointed out that this space cover bears any postmark.

In Astrophilately postmark is ALL. However, we accept covers without postmark for exceptional circumstances.

I would like to pay attention to other collectors for this fact.

See below another example that you know very well, as expert in rocket mail.

Karl Roberti flew on Dec 6, 1934 from Katwijk aan See an Orion P7 rocket with 200 covers like this (listed EZ1C1 or your refernce CR-01).

posted 06-09-2021 12:32 AM            

Every mail went through a journey. Its addressee can never know the exact details of a mail’s travel. But by looking at the stamp cancels and postal markings, you will have a clue on what tiny secret an envelope holds.

Did it travel by air or by sea? When was the letter posted? Did it ever reach its destination? Did it pass through the postal censor during war? The stamp cancellation marks serve as the testimony of every mail’s adventures.