posted 07-03-2021 11:20 AM               

Space Cover #614: Mercury 7

On April 1, 1959, NASA's Astronaut Selection Committee headed by Project Mercury director, Robert Gilruth, selects the "Mercury Seven," America's first astronauts: Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., John H. Glenn, Jr., Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Walter "Wally" M. Schirra, Jr., Alan B. Shepard, Jr., and Donald K. "Deke" Slayton. At a subsequent NASA press conference held in Washington, D.C., the "Mercury Seven" are introduced to the press and to the public.

The cover pictured is signed by all seven of the Project Mercury astronauts as well as Project Mercury Public Affairs Officer, Shorty Powers, more popularly known as the "Voice of Mission Control." The cover is cancelled on the afternoon of February 20, 1962, at Cocoa Beach, Florida, the closest viewing area for the public to witness astronaut John Glenn blast into space in Mercury Atlas-6 and Friendship 7, and to become America's first astronaut to orbit the Earth.

If you are on a budget, collect all seven astronauts' signatures separately on Project Mercury first day covers using the Scott number 1193 first day cover as the cover of choice.

posted 07-05-2021 01:16 PM               

Pictured here is one of my own "Mercury 7" signed covers, but mine has a Port Canaveral hand cancel on the same day. It had been a part of Dr. E. V. Smith's space cover collection a long time ago, an early space autograph collector as well.

As a side comment, though, while Cocoa Beach did accommodate thousands of MA-6 launch spectators all across the sandy beach area, the nearby northern region of Port/Cape Canaveral town, nearly stretching about 5 miles in length, also accommodated a few thousands "bird" watchers for Glenn's famous orbital space ride. All of those areas of the Cape for launch viewing, except for some restricted areas of the Port and harbor, were public accessible and closer in distance than Cocoa Beach to launch Pad 14 of the old Atlantic Missile Range.