The Space Race was a technological competition between the United States and the Soviet Union in demonstrating superiority in aerospace capabilities, including artificial satellites launches, robotic space probes to the Moon, Venus, and Mars, and human spaceflight in low Earth orbit and ultimately landing on the Moon. This blog features my collection of US and Soviet Union space events on covers and press photos.
1971-07-26 USA Apollo 15
Photo: The Apollo 15 crew (from left to right): James Irwin, Alfred Worden, and Dave Scott.
Photo: The Apollo 15 crew poses with their insignia in front of the rocket that will take them to the Moon.
Apollo 15 Crew-Signed Insurance Cover, originally from the personal collection of Mission Command Module Pilot Al Worden. This cover is signed and certified (twice), accompanied by a signed Letter of Authenticity. The three crew members have boldly signed beneath the cachet: "Dave Scott", "Al Worden", and "Jim Irwin." Underneath the flap, Worden has signed, numbered, and initialed: "From My Personal Collection/ Al Worden/ Apollo 15 CMP/ #38 AMW." He has also signed below the flap: "Insurance Cover from my/ Personal Collection/ Al Worden/ Apollo 15 CMP."
A signed Certificate of Authenticity on Al Worden's letterhead provides a detailed account of the history and purpose of these insurance covers.
Photo: The Apollo 15 crew poses with a model of the memorial plaque they left on the Moon.
Apollo 15 "Bishop" cover, postmarked at Kennedy Space Center on launch day, July 26, 1971. Signed by Dave Scott, Al Worden, and Jim Irwin.
Photo: Spectators at Cape Kennedy awaiting the launch of Apollo 15.
Apollo 15 KSC mailer's postmark permit canceled on launch day, July 26, 1971.
After establishing a trajectory toward the Moon, the lunar module (LM) and the command and service module (CSM) separated from the SIVB, which continued on a path toward the Moon and impacted on July 29, 1971. This impact served as a seismic source for the ALSEP seismic stations.
1971 Apollo 15 crew-signed moon landing cover. This NASA Manned Spacecraft Center Stamp Club cacheted cover is signed by the entire Apollo 15 crew—Dave Scott, Al Worden, and Jim Irwin—along with a mimeographed letter from the MSC Stamp Club. - RegencyStamps
The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), also known as the lunar rover, was first utilized during the Apollo 15 mission on July 31, 1971.
Photo: This illustration depicts how the Apollo 15 astronauts will communicate with Earth.
Photo: David Scott with the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) at Hadley Rille on the Moon.
During three sessions of extravehicular activity (EVA) on July 31, and August 1 and 2, Scott and Irwin traveled 17.5 miles in the lunar rover on the Moon. They collected over 170 pounds of lunar samples, established the ALSEP array, obtained a core sample from approximately 10 feet below the lunar surface, and provided detailed oral descriptions and photographic documentation of the geological features around the landing site during their three days (66 hours and 55 minutes) on the lunar surface.
Video: During the final moonwalk of Apollo 15, Commander David Scott conducted a live demonstration for the television cameras. He held up a geological hammer and a feather and dropped them simultaneously. Since they were in a near-vacuum environment, there was no air resistance, allowing the feather to fall at the same rate as the hammer, confirming Galileo's conclusion from centuries earlier—that all objects, when released together, fall at the same rate regardless of their mass.
First day cover issued on August 2, 1971, featuring a cachet that commemorates Dave Scott postmarking a cover on the lunar surface. The cover is signed in black felt tip by Dave Scott, Al Worden, and Jim Irwin. - RRAuction
Photo: An instrument and communications systems officer at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas, observes the lunar module's takeoff from the moon on his television screen in the Mission Control Center.
The Apollo 15 Particles and Fields Subsatellite (PFS-1) was a small satellite deployed into lunar orbit from the Apollo 15 Service Module. Its primary goals were to investigate the plasma, particle, and magnetic field environment of the Moon, as well as to map the lunar gravity field.
On August 5, 1971, Alfred Worden became the first person to perform a deep space EVA. He left the Command Module, ascended toward the rear of the Service Module, retrieved film cassettes from the SIM bay cameras, and then returned to the Command Module.
Photo: Apollo 15 made its splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on August 7, 1971.
"Spacecraft" cover for the Apollo 15 splashdown, postmarked on August 7, 1971, at Cape Canaveral.
NASA Manned Spacecraft Center Stamp Club cachet cover, postmarked on the recovery date, August 7, 1971, at Kennedy Space Center, and signed by Dave Scott, Al Worden, and Jim Irwin.
Photo: USS Okinawa, the primary recovery ship for the Apollo 15 astronauts.
Cover featuring a recovery ship cachet and postmarked by USS Okinawa on August 7, 1971.
USS Okinawa recovery ship cover featuring an Ekas rubber-stamped cachet and postmarked by USS Okinawa on August 7, 1971.
Apollo 15 USS Okinawa Captain's cover created by the ship's commanding officer.
Apollo 15 USS Okinawa recovery ship cover featuring a Beck rubber stamped cachet, postmarked on August 7, 1971. It is signed by Dave Scott, Al Worden, Jim Irwin, and Lt. Fred W. Schmidt, the officer-in-charge of the Apollo 15 Recovery Team.
Apollo 15 USS Okinawa recovery ship cover featuring a Beck rubber stamped cachet and a Commander in Chief Pacific corner card, postmarked on August 7, 1971.
Photo: Cake-cutting ceremony for the Apollo 15 crew aboard the USS Okinawa.
A plain cover postmarked by the USS Okinawa on August 9, 1971. The back of the cover is signed by the crew members involved in the recovery of the command module.
In 1970, a German stamp dealer named Hermann Sieger sought to enlist an Apollo crew to transport some philatelic covers to the Moon and back. The Apollo 15 crew agreed to carry one hundred covers in exchange for a payment of $7,000 each. The terms stipulated that the covers would not be sold until after the Apollo program concluded. In addition to Sieger's covers, the astronauts included 300 of their own (298 were carried, as two were destroyed before the flight).
Apollo 15 Lunar Module Flown "Sieger" Crew-Signed Cover, serial number 069, is one of 100 covers sent to and sold by Herman Sieger in 1971, accompanied by notarized certification on the back. In the upper left corner, it is handwritten: "Landed at Hadley, Moon/July 31, 1971," positioned above the signatures of the two moonwalkers: "Dave Scott" and "Jim Irwin." The lower left features the signatures of the crew: Dave Scott, Al Worden, and Jim Irwin. It includes a 10¢ "First Man on the Moon" stamp (Scott #C76), postmarked on the launch date of July 26, 1971, at Kennedy Space Center. In the lower right corner, there is a se-tenant pair of 8¢ Decade of Achievement/United States in Space stamps, canceled aboard the U.S.S. Okinawa on the splashdown date of August 7, 1971. The center of the back has a typed statement: "This is to certify that this cover was onboard the Falcon at the Hadley-Apennine, Moon/ July 30-August 2, 1971," signed and notarized by Mrs. C. B. Carsey of Harris County, Texas (Houston), along with her notary blind stamp. At the lower left of the back, H.W. Sieger's name is stamped, followed by his signature beneath the handwritten serial number "#069."
NASA had a policy that required astronauts to obtain permission before bringing any items onto the spacecraft. For reasons that remain unclear, these items were never reported. All the covers were canceled shortly after midnight on the day of the flight, except for this particular one, and were quickly processed through the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building, where they were vacuum-packed and sealed in fireproof fiberglass. The package was then taken to Launch Complex 39A, where Scott placed it in a pocket of his spacesuit. However, these items were not properly documented in the manifest.
After the flight, the crew had the covers stamped and canceled aboard the recovery ship, signing them on the return journey to Houston. Shortly after, the one hundred covers were sent to Siegel in Germany, who promptly began selling them. The astronauts attempted to retrieve the covers but were unsuccessful. Although they returned his payments, a congressional inquiry led NASA to suspend all three from active flight status. The remaining 298 covers were confiscated and held until 1983 when NASA settled Al Worden's lawsuit out of court and returned the covers to the crew.
