posted 11-24-2024 08:29 AM               

Space Cover 781: Apollo-Pioneer-Shuttle when nothing matches

Each weekend cS shows a post where a space cover is displayed and explained.

It is possible thanks to astrophilatelic knowledges of my colleagues and friends who usually tell a history about the cover itself, or how it was produced or how signature was obtained. However, this week I would like to share a cover with a lot of questions and no answers to offer but only assumptions.

The above cover caught my attention because bears a two red-lines quoting Pioneer 10 / Enters Aster'r'd B'lt. And quickly my first question came to me: why asteroid word and belt word have lost the vowels?

Next was the postmark, Jun 30, 1972. What happened this day regarding Pioneer 10 enters asteroid belt if most of space covers for this space event are dated July 15, 1972.

And in how Jackass Flats, Nebraska was involved in Pioneer mission was another of the questions. A nice Jackass Flats meter for an unmanned mission (Pioneer 10) on a 8c Apollo manned mission.

Finally the image is for a future shuttle.

What matches in this cover? Where I should place this cover?

Any comments, ideas or suggestions will be welcomed. Please post here what you think about this space cover. Thanks.

posted 11-24-2024 09:24 AM               

Like you, I am very puzzled as to why the text is "enters ast'r'd b'lt" as opposed to the obvious "enters asteroid belt", I mean it hardly saves on space, it would still have fit! Maybe they had only a small home printing kit and had used up all their I, O, and Es on Pioneer Enters; but that would presume they still had three apostrophes but only one "O" and "I", and a paltry four "E"s in the their stamping kit.

The second question of consequence is the date. Here I am more open to allowance. The asteroid belt doesn't have customs; it is not patrolled by border guards; it is not the same as crossing from Spain to Portugal - there is a large amount of leeway as to when Pioneer 10 actually enters the ast'r'd b'lt.

Thirdly, although Jackass Flats has absolutely nothing to do with Pioneer 10, either from a launch or tracking station aspect, it is still a NASA station, and mainly concerned with the development of nuclear propulsion. The first proposals for outer solar system and Grand Tour expeditions all involved the concept of atomic engines, and as the cachet states "Toward Increased Knowledge..." the future of space travel at that point was firmly embedded in the Space Shuttle...

As for the stamp, an Apollo 15 decade of achievement stamp is as relevant as any other for this particular 'commemoration'.