X301

Space Achievement

Exploring the Moon, Understanding the Sun, Probing the Planets, Comprehending the Universe

Winter 2021 Mail Sale Commentary 

Lot 13 X301 — Space Shuttle — Blasting off Pad

These four stamps were issued on May 21, 1981 at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Their colors are bright and vivid with the designs being well executed. I wanted to do them justice for President Kennedy's Space Program legacy so decided to take them to Houston, Texas — home of Mission Control — for the second related first day of issue postmark. A large bullseye with killer bars was secured. I believe that Collins was the only cachetmaker to get both cities' day of issue cancels on one cover. The hand painted cachet depicts the shuttle blasting off with the large booster rocket and the two smaller fuel rockets. This early Collins was produced just two weeks after my third cachetmaker anniversary.