Commander’s Cover: The flight of an envelope through space, time and eBay
April 2, 2021
– The last time Richard Truly saw it was 38 years ago on the space shuttle Challenger.
The small envelope with a $ 9.35 Express postage stamp and special postmark dated August 14, 1983 marking it as “Space Mail Orbited Via STS-8” was then used by Truly and his four STS-8 Re-signed by crew members. Although more than 260,000 similar envelopes flew on the same mission, this one was special: Serialized on the back as the number “3”, it was one of only 10 signed by all five astronauts, and it was intended for Truly.
But I really never received it.
“To be honest, I have no proof which serial number was meant for me. I just know I never got it,” said Truly, who was the commander of the STS-8 mission and later served as NASA administrator . “The other four crew members got theirs, but I was the only stamp collector.”
Almost 40 years later, the envelope was advertised again – on eBay.
The Lot title, listed on March 16 by a seller in Vancouver, Washington, for only $ 3 US, identified the envelope flown into space as only “1983 Crew Signed Challenger Launch US $ 9.35 Eagle”, the latter being on the postage stamp depicting an American bald eagle and the moon. The lot description didn’t give any further details, but that was fine. The photos said it all.
Like the thousands of other envelopes flown on the STS-8 mission, the example for sale included the crew’s patch on the front and two additional postmarks: one for Challenger’s launch on Aug. 30, 1983 and one for the The orbiter landed on Sept. 5, 1983. In the upper left corner were the signatures of Truly, pilot Dan Brandenstein and mission specialist Dale Gardner, Guion Bluford (the first African American astronaut to fly) and William Thornton.
On the back was the number “3” and another stamp for his return to earth.
It only took a day for the collectors to attract attention. Bidders rose steadily on the price until it seemed to stabilize at $ 132 a few hours before the auction ended. Then, in the final few seconds, the envelope rose to $ 1,801.76.
David Ball had won the STS-8 space mail signed by the crew.
Short break special
NASA’s press kit for the STS-8 mission describes in detail how the US Postal Service (USPS) introduced the approximately 260,000 envelopes – or “philatelic envelopes” as collectors call them, on the occasion of the agency’s 25th anniversary – collaborated on board the US agency Space Shuttle Challenger.
“Each of the envelopes will be placed in a specially designed folder and will be sold by mail order by the USPS Philatelic Division for $ 15.35 each,” NASA wrote. “The proceeds (excluding the postage attached) from the sale of the shuttle flight folder will be shared equally between NASA and the postal service.”
Most of the envelopes were stowed in Challenger’s payload bay, either in two large storage boxes attached to a pallet or in eight “Getaway Special” canisters, the latter being more commonly used for student and small-scale experiments.
A thousand of the covers were set aside and packed into the shuttle’s crew cabin. They were flown at the request of the Postmaster General and were intended for post-flight presentation in museums and for postal workers. Ten of the envelopes were accessible for the crew to sign during the six-day flight.
Realizing that selling the covers to the public could cause the astronauts to be overwhelmed by requests for autographs, NASA instructed the STS-8 crew to only sign the ten envelopes on board Challenger. (In the decades following the mission, four of the five crew members, including Truly, signed additional examples upon request, with only Thornton following NASA rules until his death in January.)
After Challenger landed, the signed envelopes were given to the Smithsonian, then President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George Bush, NASA Administrator James Beggs, Postmaster General William Bolger and, as we know, only four of the five STS-8 astronauts.
Signed, sold and delivered
Ball was already familiar with the history of the STS-8 covers when he saw the # 1. 3 envelopes on eBay.
“You might find some autographs on those flown envelopes,” said Ball, a 40-year-old stamp collector and author of “American Astrophilately: The First Fifty Years” (Joggling Board Press, 2010) flight cover with a one-digit number in a six-digit range on it the back is pretty extraordinary. “
Given the rarity of the envelope, Ball discussed the auction with a few other hobbyists, worried that it might be stolen. One of his friends mentioned that he had met Truly before and knew that the STS-8 commander was missing his signed cover. Ball decided to reach out to the astronaut to be sure.
“If this was yours and you want it back, I’m ready to help in any way I can,” Ball wrote in an email to Truly. “I would love to have it, but it’s not my story and I certainly wouldn’t want you to be cheated of an important keepsake.”
“I would like one,” he really replied. “The last time I saw the cover was in orbit when we signed the 10 covers.”
It was done. Ball made a sizable bid to make sure he would be the winner, knowing he was buying it for Truly.
It’s not clear why Truly never received its cover when the other members of the STS-8 crew did, or how it ended up on eBay 38 years later (if cover # 3 was actually what Truly was supposed to be) ). Notes on the back of the cover suggest the cover became a well-known reference collection at some point, Ball says, but otherwise it’s a mystery.
Really happy to finally get a cover for his stamp collection.
“I check the mail,” he said.