LIBERTY BELL 7 SPACE COVERS
LibertyBellSpace@cfl.rr.com
This list is comprised of covers commemorating Project Mercury. Project Mercury was started in the late 1950's with the intention of putting a man in space. Starting from scratch, first a spacecraft had to be built to withstand the harsh environment of outer space. Then rockets were needed to launch these spacecrafts and support facilities were needed to support the flights. Finally, pilots were needed to fly the spacecraft. On April 9, 1959, the names of the first seven astronauts, names that today are so familiar to us all, were announced to the public. Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Wally Schirra, Gordon Cooper, & Deke Slayton instantly became heroes to us all. These men would take our first small steps into space that would eventually lead us to the surface of the moon. Project Mercury consisted of a number of test flights to qualify the system before the manned flights would take place. These tests consisted of tests of the launch escape system in the Little Joe flights, as well as the Redstone and Atlas booster test flights. After all the testing was complete, Project Mercury flew 6 extremely successful manned missions that paved the way for our future in space. Though some covers do exist for some of the very early test flights, they are extremely rare and very expensive if you can find them. Luckily, most of the Project Mercury covers are readily available and reasonably priced. Check out this list and you may find something of interest.
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PROJECT MERCURY - UNMANNED TEST FLIGHTS
(Note: Please see Space Craft Covers list for additional Project Mercury Covers)
| Big Joe-1 Launch, 9-9-59, PC - HC on rocket postcard | $95.00 |
MR-2 (Ham) Launch, 1-31-61, PC - HC, Velvet cachet
| $65.00
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PROJECT MERCURY - MANNED FLIGHTS
MR-3 Launch, 5-5-61, PC - HC, Velvet cachet $60.00
MR-4 Launch, 7-21-61, PC - HC, Velvet cachet $60.00
Mercury Atlas-6 : John Glenn
| USS Noa Return To Port, 2-23-62, U.S.S. Noa - HC on Project Mercury stamp, printed cachet | $145.00 |
Mercury Atlas-8 : Wally Schirra
| MA-8 Launch, 10-3-62, CC - HC, printed cachet | $8.00 |
| MA-8 Launch, 10-3-62, St. Louis MO - meter cancel, no cachet | $5.00 |
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Mercury Atlas-9 : Gordon Cooper
| MA-9 Recovery, 5-16-63, CC - HC, Orbit cachet | $6.00 |
| MA-9 Recovery, 5-16-63, CC - MC, Masonic Stamp Club cachet | $6.00 |
| MA-9 Tracking Ships: |
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| USNS Range Recoverer, 5-16-63, U.S. Navy - MC, RSC | $8.00 |
| MA-9 Secondary Recovery Ships: |
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| 5-15-63, USS Corry - HC, no cachet | $4.00 |
| 5-17-63, USS DeHaven - HC, B322 | $10.00 |
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| 5-15-63, U.S.S. Harwood - HC, no cachet | $5.00 |
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| 5-15-63, U.S.S. McCaffery - HC, no cachet | $4.00 |
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ABBREVIATIONS USED
| CC: Cape Canaveral | C.O.:Commanding Officer |
| HC: Hand Cancel | MC: Machine Cancel |
| PAFB: Patrick Air Force Base | PC: Port Canaveral |
| RSC: Rubber Stamp Cachet | SCCS: Space City Cover Society |
| WI: Wallops Island | WSMR: White Sands Missile Range |
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Please see bottom of homepage for ordering info.