posted 12-31-2023 07:16 AM               

Space Cover #734: Explorer-1 Anniversary Whitney Cover With A Twist

Next month we will celebrate the 65th anniversary of the launching of Explorer-1 to became the United States first satellite to orbit the earth. The United States Army, using a modified Redstone booster known as a Jupiter-C, launched the small satellite from Launch Complex-26A at the Cape Canaveral Air (Space) Force Station on January 31, 1958. 90 minutes after launch, with the famous message "Goldstone has the bird," the launch team and science team knew they had succeeded in answering the Soviets and Sputnik in the orbiting of an artificial satellite.

Unlike Sputnik-1 which just radioed a "beep," Explorer-1 had scientific instruments on board. The small satellite confirmed that belts of radiation surrounded the earth. These became known as the Van Allen Radiation Belts named after James Van Allen who lead the scientific team and helped design the instruments on board.

The cover pictured commemorates the 25th anniversary of the launch of Explorer-1. The cover has a slogan cancel honoring the anniversary from Pasadena, California, which is the home of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and responsible for designing and building the spacecraft. The cover also has a Bob Whitney cachet.

What makes this cover unusual to me is the fact that it appears that Bob Whitney did this cover for himself. Bob was a prolific cover servicer during the late 1960's through around about 1990. He serviced covers almost exclusively for Eastern Test Range launches and events.

Most Whitney covers are postmarked with CC, PAFB, KSC or Satellite Beach cancels with maybe a couple other Florida locations thrown in. The fact that this cover is postmarked in Pasadena, with the stamp centered so to be able to read the slogan, and hand-addressed by Bob to himself makes me believe that Bob saw the announcement for the anniversary cancel and sent in his own cover to receive the special postmark. He then applied his own cachet to the cover. These are all things we have done for our own collections. Its always nice when you can make your own commemorative cover!

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2024. Looking forward to seeing all the great covers that will be posted here in the coming year!

posted 12-31-2023 10:57 AM               

Below, I think a common cover, with same Whitney cachet but with pictorial Cape Canaveral postmark for same 25 anniversary.