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| An Apollo 14 Insurance Cover featuring the mission insignia, postmarked at Kennedy Space Center with a machine cancel on January 31, 1971, signed by Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa and Edgar Mitchell. - RegencyStamps |
Apollo 14 was the third successful Moon landing and the first in the lunar highlands. It involved two-day lunar stays focused on scientific exploration and featured two extravehicular activities (EVAs or moonwalks). Initially planned for 1970, the mission was delayed due to the investigation of the Apollo 13 incident and the necessary spacecraft upgrades.
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| Photo: Apollo 14 crew members Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, and Stuart Roosa (from left to right) at a news conference on January 9, 1971. |
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| Photo: Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell recently demonstrates a twenty-pound cart designed for lunar exploration in Washington. This cart can carry seventy pounds of equipment, which includes six core tubes, a trenching tool, two geology scoops, four rock bags, a portable magnetometer for measuring the Moon's magnetic field, and five cameras. During their second moonwalk, astronauts Mitchell and Shepard will take turns pulling the cart from the lunar module to Cone Crater. |
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| An Apollo 14 launch cover featuring the "KSC Officials" stamped cachet, postmarked at Kennedy Space Center with a machine cancel on January 31, 1971, signed by the backup crew: Gene Cernan, Ron Evans and Joe Engle. |
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| Photo: Apollo 14 astronauts in quarantine, seated in a glass-enclosed room during a briefing session on January 27, 1971. |
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| Photo: Photo: A staff member tests the digital clock that counts down hours, minutes, and seconds to liftoff. |
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| Photo: The Apollo 14 crew goes over the mission plan on the day prior to their scheduled launch. |
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| An Apollo 14 launch cover featuring the mission insignia and "KSC Officials" stamped cachet in magenta and blue, postmarked at Kennedy Space Center with a "Mailer's Postmark Permit 15" cancel on January 31, 1971. |
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| Photo: Dr. Wernher von Braun shakes hands with Vice President Spiro Agnew, alongside Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and his wife, Sofia, at the Kennedy Space Center, where they observed the launch of Apollo 14 to the Moon.
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Commander Alan Shepard, Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa, and Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell launched on January 31, 1971, at 4:03 p.m. EST for a nine-day mission. During their journey, they resolved technical issues that could have caused another mission failure and jeopardized the future of the Apollo program.
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| An Apollo 14 launch cover featuring an illustration of the lunar module docking sequence, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on January 31, 1971. |
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An Apollo 14 cover from "Sarzin", featuring an illustration of the docking mechanism, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on February 1, 1971.
A significant issue arose when command module pilot Stuart Roosa made five attempts to dock with the lunar module, but the latches on the docking assembly failed to lock. After nearly two hours of discussions with mission control, Roosa made one final docking attempt, which was successful.
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| An Apollo 14 cover featuring a blue stamped cachet depicting Apollo 14 spacecraft flying passively towards the moon, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on February 3, 1971. |
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An Apollo 14 cover featuring an illustration of the impact of Apollo 14's third stage on the Moon, postmarked at Houston, Texas, with a machine cancel on February 4, 1971.
The Apollo Saturn V SIVB served as the third stage of the Saturn V booster. After establishing a trajectory toward the Moon, the lunar module (LM) and command and service module (CSM) detached from the SIVB on February 1, 1971. The SIVB was then set on a path toward the Moon, where it impacted on February 4, creating a seismic source for the ALSEP seismic stations. |
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| An Apollo 14 cover from "Geene", featuring an illustration of the Apollo spacecraft in moon orbit, postmarked at Houston, Texas, with a hand cancel on February 4, 1971. |
Shepard and Mitchell landed on February 5 in the Fra Mauro formation—Apollo 13’s original target. Over two moonwalks, they collected 94.35 pounds (42.8 kg) of lunar samples and conducted scientific experiments. Although they aimed to reach Cone Crater’s rim, they had to stop just short of it. One of the mission's most iconic moments was when Shepard used a makeshift club to hit two golf balls on the lunar surface.
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An Apollo 14 moon landing cover, featuring a photograph of Alan Shepard on the moon, postmarked at Houston, Texas, with a machine cancel on February 5, 1971.
Alan Shepard was among the Mercury astronauts selected by NASA in April 1959. He became the first American to travel into space on May 5, 1961, aboard the Freedom 7 spacecraft. Notably, he was the only Mercury astronaut to journey to the Moon.
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| An Apollo 14 moon landing cover from “NASA Manned Spacecraft Center Stamp Club” featuring the mission insignia, postmarked at Houston, Texas, with a hand cancel on February 5, 1971, signed by Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell and Stuart Roosa. The cover comes with a letter from the MSC Stamp Club. - RegencyStamps |
While his crewmates explored the Moon, Roosa orbited in the Command and Service Module, conducting experiments and photographing the lunar surface, including the future Apollo 16 landing site. He also carried hundreds of tree seeds, which were later grown on Earth as the "Moon trees." After successfully lifting off from the lunar surface and docking, the crew returned to Earth, splashing down safely in the Pacific Ocean on February 9.
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| Photo: Views of the lunar surface at the Apollo 14 landing site. |
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| An Apollo 14 cover from "Astro Covers", featuring a photograph of the moon rock photographed by the Apollo 14 crew during their lunar surface exploration, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on February 6, 1971. |
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| An Apollo 14 lunar lift-off cover from "Space City Cover Society" featuring the Lunar Module, Antares, ascended from the moon, leaving its descent stage behind on the lunar surface as intended. The cover was postmarked at Houston, Texas, with a machine cancel on February 6, 1971. |
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| An Apollo 14 cover from "Thermograph", featuring an illustration of the Lunar Module, Antares, entered orbit of the moon to dock with the Command Module, Kitty Hawk. This cover was postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on February 6, 1971. |
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| Photo: USS New Orleans, the primary recovery vessel for Apollo 14. The command module Kitty Hawk was scheduled to splash down in the South Pacific Ocean on February 9, 1971, approximately 874 miles south of American Samoa. |
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| An Apollo 14 recovery cover from "Ekas", postmarked aboard USS New Orleans with a hand cancel on February 9, 1971. |
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| An Apollo 14 recovery cover from "Goldcraft", postmarked aboard USS New Orleans with a hand cancel on February 9, 1971.
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| An Apollo 14 recovery cover from “Heritage Crafts”, postmarked aboard USS New Orleans with a hand cancel on February 9, 1971, signed by Stuart Roosa, Edgar Mitchell and Alan Shepard. |
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| An Apollo 14 recovery cover featuring a magenta “Morris Beck” rubber-stamped cachet, postmarked aboard USS New Orleans with a hand cancel on February 9, 1971, signed by Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell and Stuart Roosa. - Heritage Auctions |
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| An Apollo 14 recovery cover featuring a magenta “Morris Beck” rubber-stamped cachet, postmarked aboard USS New Orleans with a hand cancel on February 9, 1971, signed by recovery helicopter pilot Cdr. W. E. Walker, co-pilot Lt. Thomas F. Finley, AWC Davey, and AW3 Lynch.
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An Apollo 14 recovery cover with a printed “Morris Beck B861” cachet, postmarked aboard USS New Orleans with a hand cancel on February 9, 1971, signed by Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell. - RRAuction |
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An Apollo 14 Captain's Cover from the USS New Orleans, postmarked aboard USS New Orleans with a hand cancel on February 9, 1971, signed by Louie Welch, the Mayor of Houston, Texas. This cover was originally from the family collection of Robert T. Sakowitz. - Heritage Auctions |
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| Apollo 14 recovery cover from "J. Walter Green - A/P NASA Photo Pool", featuring a magenta “Morris Beck” rubber-stamped cachet, postmarked aboard the USS New Orleans with a hand cancel on February 9, 1971. |
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Photo: Captain Robert E. Moore, Commanding Officer of the USS New Orleans, presenting a large cake to the Apollo 14 astronauts on behalf of his crew.
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| An Apollo 14 recovery cover featuring the mission insignia, postmarked aboard USS New Orleans with a hand cancel on February 9, 1971, signed by commanding officer Captain Robert E. Moore. |
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| An Apollo 14 recovery cover featuring the mission insignia, postmarked aboard USS New Orleans with a possibly unique hand cancel on February 9, 1971 (featuring a "PM" time slug in the date). |
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| An Apollo 14 recovery cover from "Orbit Covers", postmarked aboard USS New Orleans with a hand cancel on February 9, 1971. |
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| Photo: Apollo 14 crew members Edgar Mitchell and Alan Shepard examining the largest rock ever brought to Earth from the Moon. |
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| "First Man On The Moon" plate block of four stamps that flew to the surface of the moon on Apollo 14, January 31 - February 9, 1971. Originally presented to Mrs. Ann Sakowitz by Alan Shepard. On the wide selvage, the Mission Commander has written in black ink: "Landed Frau Mauro/ in Antares- 2/5/71/ Alan Shepard". On the narrow selvage are the signatures in blue ink: "Ed Mitchell" and "Stuart A Roosa". This block of four stamps was originally from the family collection of Robert T. Sakowitz. - Heritage Auctions |
(Reference from
Apollo 14 Reaching the lunar highlands)
