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Space Mail: USAF "First Mail from Outer Space" Cover Flown on Discovery XVII with Original Letter of Transmittal to NASA's Fir... (Total: 2 )
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Sold on Dec 11, 2025 for:
$35,000.00
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Description
Space Mail: USAF "First Mail from Outer Space" Cover Flown on Discovery XVII with Original Letter of Transmittal to NASA's First Administrator, 1960. An exceptional and historically important "First Air Mail -Outer Space-" flown cover, carried aboard the United States Air Force's Discoverer XVII satellite and recovered after orbit. The envelope, boldly cacheted in violet, is addressed to Hon. T. Keith Glennan, the first Administrator of NASA, and postmarked November 15, 1960, from Sunnyvale, California.Accompanying the cover is its original Department of the Air Force fact sheet, signed by Colonel W.G. Woodbury, Chief of the Community Relations Division, Office of Information. The fact sheet details the mission: Discoverer XVII was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 12:43 P.M. PST on November 15, 1960. Initially intended for recovery on the seventeenth orbit, the satellite remained in space until the thirty-first orbit, traveling approximately one million miles before the capsule was released at 2:31 P.M. PST. At 3:05 P.M. PST, Captain Gene W. Jones, piloting a C-119 Pelican II aircraft, successfully snagged the capsule on his first attempt over the mid-Pacific Ocean. Only a small number of these experimental flown covers were carried (22 are known), each addressed to a high-ranking government or military official. The Glennan example offered here, with its matching USAF fact sheet, represents one of the finest survivals of this pioneering postal experiment. Cover and letter excellent. This lot was previously sold in a Harmer-Schau auction for $42,250 (Sale 88, Lot 1072).
The Discoverer series of satellites (1959-1962) was a top-secret U.S. Air Force program publicly presented as scientific research but in fact served as the first generation of CORONA reconnaissance satellites. These missions pioneered satellite recovery techniques, with film and test payloads returned to Earth via mid-air capture, laying the groundwork for all subsequent American space reconnaissance operations.
Notably, this was the first official mail ever carried in space, predating both Project Mercury and subsequent manned flights. As such, it is a cornerstone of both aerospace and philatelic history, with examples highly coveted by advanced collectors. From the Family Collection of Jacques Bracke
Auction Info
2025 December 11 - 12 Space Exploration Signature® Auction #6326 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
December, 2025
11th-12th
Thursday-Friday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 18
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
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