On July 16, 1969, the 363-foot-tall Apollo 11 spacecraft was launched from the Kennedy Space Center with the mission of landing two men on the lunar surface and safely returning them to Earth. The spacecraft was crewed by three astronauts: Mission Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr.
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| The Apollo 11 moon landing mission crew is shown from left to right: Neil Armstrong (holding a plaque intended for the Moon), Buzz Aldrin (holding the Apollo 11 insignia), and Michael Collins during a news conference at the Space Center on July 5, 1969. |
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| Apollo 11 Insurance Cover (Type 2) from "Dow-Unicover", postmarked at Kennedy Space Center with a machine cancel on July 16, 1969, signed by Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. This is one of the three designs of the Apollo 11 insurance cover. The astronauts signed a limited number of these covers to leave on Earth as a contingency against their failing to return safely from the moon. If a tragedy had occurred, the covers would have been sold, with the proceeds benefiting their families, functioning similarly to an insurance policy. |
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| Photo: Armstrong and Aldrin practiced the 2.5 hours of tasks they were scheduled to perform on the moon. |
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| Photo: Armstrong rehearses climbing the ladder of a Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) simulator.
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| Photo: Armstrong and Aldrin practicing the moon landing in the lunar module simulator. |
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| Photo: Armstrong and Aldrin at a televised press conference, with a technician wearing a mask to protect the astronauts from catching colds or other infections. |
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| An Apollo 11 launch cover featuring the "KSC Officials" stamped cachet, postmarked at Kennedy Space Center with a machine cancel on July 16, 1969, featuring a hand painted cachet by artist Alec Bartos. The design depicts items carried aboard Apollo 11 in Neil Armstrong’s Personal Preference Kit (PPK), including a piece of wood from the left propeller and a piece of muslin fabric from the upper left wing of the Wright brothers’ 1903 aircraft, as well as a gold olive branch pin that was left on the Moon. |
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| Photo: The primary and backup crews of Apollo 11 gathered for dinner on July 15, 1969. |
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| Photo: Collins and Armstrong having breakfast before their historic Apollo 11 flight on July 16, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 11 launch cover featuring a stick-on Apollo 11 emblem label, postmarked at Kennedy Space Center with a machine cancel on July 16, 1969, signed by Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong. |
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| Photo: Commander Neil Armstrong (right) waited in his spacesuit while observing technicians as they completed dressing the other members of the Apollo 11 crew, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. The two were reclining in chairs designed to facilitate their suiting-up process.
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| An Apollo 11 launch cover from "Thermograph", featuring an illustration of the Apollo 11 crew - Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on July 16, 1969. |
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| Photo: Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin were in high spirits as they departed the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building to board the transfer van heading to Pad 39, where they would enter their spacecraft in anticipation of the moon landing. |
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| Photo: (Left) A close-up view of the Apollo 11 rocket lifting off. (Right) An illustration of the moon landing mission. |
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| An Apollo 11 tracking station cover from "Point Arguello", postmarked at Vandenberg AFB, California, with a machine cancel on July 16, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 11 launch cover featuring an illustration of the Apollo spacecraft separating from the S-IVB stage on its journey to the Moon, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on July 16, 1969. |
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| Photo: Mission Control at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas, monitoring the Apollo 11 spacecraft en route to the moon. |
| The NASA Manned Space Flight Network (MSFN) was a global network of stations that tracked the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Skylab missions. Most MSFN stations were primarily used during the launch, Earth orbit, and landing phases of lunar missions. However, three "deep space" sites equipped with larger antennas provided continuous coverage during the trans-lunar, trans-earth, and lunar mission phases. These three sites form the NASA Deep Space Network: |
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| An Apollo 11 tracking station cover from "Goldstone Manned Space Flight Network (MSFN) Station", operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), postmarked at Barstow, California with a machine cancel on July 16, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 11 tracking station cover from "Deep Space Station 61 (DSS 61)" located in Robledo de Chavela at the Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex (MDSCC), postmarked at Madrid, Spain, with a hand cancel on July 16, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 11 tracking station cover from "Deep Space Station 42 (DSS 42)" at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC) in Tidbinbilla, Australian Capital Territory, postmarked at Canberra City with a hand cancel on July 16, 1969, signed by Don Gray, Station Director. DSS 42 was the first major antenna constructed at the CDSCC and played a crucial role in the Apollo missions, handling voice communications and transmitting command sequences while spacecraft were tracked across the Southern Hemisphere and Pacific Ocean. |
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| An Apollo 11 tracking station cover from "NASA-INTA (MSFN) Tracking Station", featuring a Snoopy-themed Apollo 11 cachet, postmarked at Madrid, Spain, with a hand cancel on July 16, 1969, signed by Dan Hunter, the Station Director. |
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| Photo: This image of the Moon, captured during the Apollo 10 mission in May 1969, highlights the location where Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin landed in the Sea of Tranquility. |
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| Photo: Charles Conrad (right), the Apollo 12 flight commander, watches Apollo 11's lunar orbit insertion alongside Milton Windler at the flight director's console in Mission Control. |
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| An Apollo 11 cover from "Orbit Covers", featuring an illustration of Apollo 11 entering moon orbit, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on July 19, 1969. |
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| Photo: Tracking screens in Mission Control display the moment Apollo 11's lunar module landed on the moon on July 20, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 11 cover from the “Space City Cover Society” featuring an illustration of Michael Collins and the Columbia command module orbiting the Moon, postmarked at Houston, Texas, with a machine cancel on July 20, 1969. |
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| Photo: Top officials in the space program at Mission Control observing the Apollo 11 lunar module's landing on July 20, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 11 moon landing cover from "Thermograph", featuring an illustration of the Lunar Module descending toward the lunar surface, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on July 20, 1969. |
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| Photo: Televised footage of Neil Armstrong stepping onto the moon's surface on July 20, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 11 moon landing cover featuring a portrait of Neil Armstrong, the first human to set foot on the Moon, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on July 20, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 11 moon landing cover from "Thermograph", featuring Neil Armstrong’s famous words as he took humanity’s first steps on the lunar surface, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on July 20, 1969. Armstrong’s historic first step was broadcast live on television to a worldwide audience, accompanied by his immortal words: “One small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind”. |
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| Photo: Neil Armstrong starts setting up equipment shortly after taking his first step on the moon. |
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| An Apollo 11 moon landing cover from the “Space City Cover Society”, commemorating Neil Armstrong’s historic first steps on the Moon, postmarked at Houston, Texas, with a machine cancel on July 20, 1969, signed by Neil Armstrong. |
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| Buzz Aldrin, the lunar module pilot, was the second person to walk on the moon. Aldrin stepped onto the lunar surface approximately 19 minutes after Armstrong made his historic first step. |
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| An Apollo 11 moon landing cover from "Sarzin", featuring an illustration of the exact day humans first walked on the moon, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on July 20, 1969. |
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| Photo: Mission Control observes a televised broadcast of the astronauts from the moon. |
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| Photo: Neil Armstrong reads the inscription on the plaque attached to the descent stage of the lunar module. |
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| An Apollo 11 moon landing cover from "Masonic philatelic club", featuring the Apollo 11 plaque that was left on the moon, postmarked at Houston, Texas, with a machine cancel on July 20, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 11 moon landing cover from "Astro Covers", featuring a photograph of Buzz Aldrin setting up the Solar Wind Composition Experiment on the lunar surface, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on July 20, 1969. |
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| Photo: Armstrong and Aldrin placing the American flag on the moon's surface, close to the lunar lander that transported them there. |
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| Photo: Soon after planting the U.S. flag on the moon, Armstrong and Aldrin received a congratulatory phone call from President Richard Nixon. |
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| Photo: President Richard Nixon watching the telecast from the moon while seated at his desk in the White House. |
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| An Apollo 11 moon landing cover from "Astro Covers", featuring a photograph of Buzz Aldrin saluting the American flag planted on the lunar surface, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on July 20, 1969. |
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| Apollo 11 Insurance Cover (Type 1) from "NASA Manned Spacecraft Center Stamp Club", postmarked at Kennedy Space Center with a machine cancel Houston, Texas, on July 20, 1969, signed by Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin. Originally from Aldrin’s personal collection, the cover is mounted on a signed Letter of Authenticity printed on his personal letterhead. - Heritage Auctions |
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| An Apollo 11 moon landing cover from "Astro Covers", featuring the iconic portrait of Buzz Aldrin on the moon, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on July 20, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 11 tracking station cover from "CSIRO ANRAO Parkes" in Australia, postmarked at Parkes, New South Wales, with a machine cancel on July 21, 1969. On July 20, 1969, at 10:56 PM EDT (12:56 PM Australian Eastern Standard Time on July 21), an estimated 600 million people around the globe watched as Neil Armstrong stepped onto the Moon for the first time. Just eight and a half minutes after these iconic images aired, NASA chose Parkes for the final two hours and twelve minutes of live coverage because of its exceptional image quality. |
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| Photo: Neil Armstrong inside the Lunar Module after completed the extravehicular activity with Buzz Aldrin on the moon. |
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| Photo: A London commuter learns about the moonwalk by purchasing a newspaper featuring a headline about the historic event from a news vendor in Trafalgar Square. |
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| An Apollo 11 lunar lift-off cover from "Thermograph", featuring the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, Eagle, lifting off from the Moon, leaving its descent stage behind on the lunar surface as planned, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on July 21, 1969. To reduce the weight of the ascent stage, the astronauts also left behind various items, including two still cameras, their portable life-support systems, and their lunar boots. |
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| Photo: Charles "Pete" Conrad (left) and Alan L. Bean, the flight commander and lunar module pilot for the Apollo 12 mission, watch the tracking screen at Mission Control, Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Texas, during the lift-off of the Apollo 11 lunar module from the Moon. Conrad and Bean attentively followed the Apollo 11 operations as Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin offered them a glimpse of the events to come. |
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| Photo: The Apollo 11 crew captured images of the area as they departed the lunar surface to dock with the command module. |
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| An Apollo 11 lunar lift-off cover from "Sarzin", featuring a photograph of the Apollo 11 landing site captured during the Lunar Module’s lift-off from the Moon, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on July 21, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 11 lunar lift-off cover from "Thermograph", featuring an illustration of the Lunar Module, Eagle, ascending into lunar orbit to rendezvous and dock with the Command Module, Columbia, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on July 21, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 11 lunar lift-off cover from "Sarzin", featuring an illustration of the Lunar Module, Eagle, docking with the Command Module, Columbia, during their rendezvous in lunar orbit, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on July 21, 1969. It took approximately four hours for Eagle to rendezvous with Columbia. |
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| An Apollo 11 lunar orbit cover from "Whitney" (Rober B. Whitney), featuring a stamped cachet illustrating the Apollo 11 Command Module, Columbia, leaving lunar obrit, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on July 22, 1969. |
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The Apollo 11 astronauts carried a blank cover, an imperforate C76 moon landing stamp, and a postal rubber stamp inscribed with "MOON LANDING JUL 20 1969 USA" to the Moon. However, due to their busy schedule and various tasks on the lunar surface, they forgot to postmark the cover while on the Moon. The unique postmarking was instead completed during their return to Earth on July 22, 1969. Prior to the mission, Dr. Matthew I. Radnofsky conducted a simulation of canceling in space in his laboratory, preparing four proof covers and 150 specimens for philatelic reference.
Top: An Apollo 11 specimen cover no. 35 of 150, featuring a "MOON LANDING JUL 20 1969 USA" hand cancel, applied by Dr. Matthew I. Radnofsky for philatelic reference prior to the Apollo 11 mission.
Bottom: The reverse of the same cover bears a "Webster Aug 11, 1969" machine postmark and a "Delayed in Quarantine at Lunar Receiving Laboratory, M.S.C - Houston, Texas" handstamp. These were later added to the 214 covers flown to the Moon, carried by Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins in their Personal Preference Kits. - Auktionshaus Felzmann
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| An Apollo 11 splashdown cover from the “Space City Cover Society”, postmarked at Houston, Texas with a machine cancel on July 24, 1969. Columbia reentered Earth’s atmosphere at 12:35 PM, generating intense heat that temporarily disrupted communications with the spacecraft. After approximately four minutes of radio blackout during reentry, contact was reestablished with Apollo 11 as the spacecraft continued its journey toward splashdown. |
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| Photo: A scene of celebration at Mission Control in Houston following the splashdown of the Apollo 11 capsule in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 1969. The Apollo 11 mission successfully fulfilled the national goal set by President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961. |
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| A postcard featuring the USS Hornet carrier on the front, featuring a magenta a "Morris Beck" rubber-stamped cachet on the back, postmarked aboard USS Hornet which a machine cancel on July 24, 1969. Everything proceeded as planned, and the Apollo 11 crew safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 12:51 PM, about 950 miles (1,527 kilometers) southwest of Honolulu and just 15 miles (24 kilometers) from the prime recovery ship, USS Hornet. |
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| An Apollo 11 recovery cover from "Ekas", postmarked aboard USS Hornet with a machine cancel on July 24, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 11 Captain's Cover from the USS Hornet, postmarked aboard USS Hornet with a hand cancel on July 24, 1969, signed by Captain Carl J. Seiberlich. A total of 6,000 copies of this envelope were produced by the ship's commanding officer. |
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| An Apollo 11 recovery cover, postmarked aboard USS Hornet with a hand cancel on July 24, 1969, featuring a hand painted cachet by artist Van Waay. |
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| Photo: The Apollo 11 capsule floating in the ocean, awaiting recovery after the crew had been picked up by the recovery helicopter. |
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| An Apollo 11 recovery cover featuring "Apollo 11 U.S. Navy Recovery Force" cachet along with an illustration of the splashdown scene, postmarked aboard USS Hornet with a machine cancel on July 24, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 11 recovery cover featuring a magenta "Morris Beck" rubber-stamped cachet, postmarked aboard USS Arlington with a rare hand cancel on July 24, 1969. USS Arlington served as President Nixon's "Floating White House" during the Apollo 11 recovery operation. While USS Hornet served as the prime recovery ship, USS Arlington played a crucial role in providing communications support. Following the recovery of Apollo 11, both vessels made their way to Pearl Harbor, with USS Hornet arriving first. Although the majority of covers from USS Arlington bear a Honolulu postmark, a limited number were stamped with "USS Arlington", as shown above. |
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| Photo: A televised image shows Richard Nixon watching the splashdown from aboard USS Hornet on July 24, 1969. |
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| An Apollo 11 recovery cover featuring a magenta "Morris Beck" rubber-stamped cachet, postmarked aboard USS Hornet with a hand cancel on July 24, 1969, signed by William Pierce Rogers, who served as Secretary of State under President Richard Nixon from January 22, 1969, until September 3, 1973. This hand cancel is a rare variation that omits the "AM" time slug.
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| An Apollo 11 cover from "Sarzin", featuring a photograph of the Apollo 11 crew wearing Biological Isolation Garments (BIGs) as a precaution against possible lunar contamination following their return to Earth, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on July 24, 1969. These garments were supplied by the recovery task force divers following the command module's splashdown in the ocean. |
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| An Apollo 11 recovery cover with a printed “Morris Beck B804” cachet, postmarked aboard USS Hornet with a machine cancel on July 24, 1969. The cover was originally intended for the USS Goldsborough, but this particular cover was forwarded to the USS Hornet instead. |
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| Photo: President Nixon meets the Apollo 11 crew while they are in their quarantine station aboard the USS Hornet. |
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| An Apollo 11 recovery cover postmarked aboard USS Hornet with a hand cancel on July 24, 1969. This hand cancel is an extremely rare variation, with the time slug positioned above the year “1969”. |
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| An Apollo 11 recovery cover from "Orbit Covers", featuring a magenta “Morris Beck” rubber-stamped cachet, postmarked aboard USS Hornet with a machine cancel, signed by William R. Carpentier, the NASA flight surgeon who conducted a verbal physical examination of the astronauts as they were lifted to the recovery helicopter individually. This machine cancel is a variation with a centered "AM" time slug. |
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| Photo: An interior shot of the Apollo 11 Mobile Quarantine Facility captures Neil Armstrong playing a ukulele, Buzz Aldrin talking on the phone with his family, while Michael Collins sits with his eyes closed, covering his ears to block out the noise. |
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| An Apollo 11 recovery cover from "Art Craft", postmarked aboard USS Hornet with a hand cancel on July 24, 1969. |
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| Photo: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin Aldrin review some of the rolls of film they captured during their journey to the Moon. |
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| An Apollo 11 “Crew Out of Quarantine” cover, featuring an illustrated floor plan of the Lunar Receiving Laboratory’s Astronaut Quarantine Area, where Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins were held following their return from the Moon, postmarked at Webster, New York, on August 11, 1969. |
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| Photo: The Apollo 11 crew held their first press conference on August 12, 1969, following their release from quarantine. |
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| Photo: Newsmen examine a moon rock that was brought back by the Apollo 11 astronauts. |
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| Photo: On September 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 astronauts presented a model of the lunar landing module to George Paul Miller, a U.S. Representative from California. |
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| A wooden plaque-mounted display featuring a space-themed philatelic collection presented under Plexiglas. The signed items include: (1) An Apollo 11 launch cover from "Bendix Launch Support Division", postmarked with a Kennedy Space Center machine cancel on July 16, 1969, signed by Neil Armstrong and Wernher von Braun. (2) An Apollo 11 splashdown cover from "Orbit Covers", postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a hand cancel on July 24, 1969, signed by Neil Armstrong. - Heritage Auction |
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| Photo: Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, received a warm ovation from 20,000 fellow servicemen and women. The astronaut was introduced by entertainer Bob Hope during a recent performance at Long Binh, S. Vietnam, as part of the comedian's annual holiday tour. Photo by Shunsuke Akatsuka, UPI. |
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| Photo: (Top) Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins commemorate the 5th anniversary of Apollo 11, the first moon landing mission. (Bottom) A ceremony celebrating the 25th anniversary of the historic moon landing. |
(Reference from
Apollo 11)
