LOT #71007 |
Current Bid: $45
Mercury-Redstone 3 (Freedom 7) U.S.S. Lake Champlain Recove...
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Description
Mercury-Redstone 3 (Freedom 7) U.S.S. Lake Champlain Recovery Ship Cover Signed by Alan Shepard & John Glenn, and with Lengthy Handwritten Comments by Robert Gilruth. A philatelic cover postmarked May 23, 1961, (the date the recovery ship reached port) aboard the U.S.S. Lake Champlain, the primary recovery ship for the Mercury-Redstone 3 mission, which returned America's first astronaut, Alan Shepard, from his pioneering suborbital flight. The envelope bears a 7¢ "Hawaii Statehood" Airmail stamp tied to the cover by the ship's hand cancelation. What elevates this item to exceptional status are the inscriptions and signatures: "Alan Shepard", the first American in space, has neatly signed at upper left in blue ink; "John Glenn", the first American to orbit the Earth, has signed boldly in black felt tip; and "Robert R. Gilruth, Director, Manned S/C Ctr. NASA", has added in blue ink "'Freedom 7,' -as Alan Shepard named his spacecraft- was a great success. His flight gave us the momentum & confidence to go on to Apollo and the landings on the Moon & Alan was the one of the lunar pilots!" One of only two known. Typewritten address. Excellent. Included, for purposes of display or matting, is a glossy color print of Shepard standing next to his capsule on the Lake Champlain.These signatures link the moment of Shepard's return to the larger legacy of Project Mercury and the Apollo program. Few items so concisely capture the foundational spirit of American human spaceflight. An extraordinary artifact of the dawn of American space exploration, bearing authentic signatures and commentary from three of its most pivotal pioneers. From the Family Collection of Jacques Bracke.
Auction Info
2025 September 27 Space Exploration Showcase Auction #33169 (go to Auction Home page)
Proxy Bidding Ends
September
27th
Saturday
9:50 am CT
Auction Dates
September
27th
Saturday
Proxy Bidding Time Remaining
12 Days
19h 41m 22s
Internet/Mail Bids: 6
Lot Tracking Activity: 12
Page Views: 81
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
25% of the successful bid (minimum $29) per lot.
This lot is in: 1 -
Space Session
(Lots 71001-71528) - 10:00 AM Central Time, Saturday, September 27, 2025.
[Proxy bidding ends ten minutes prior to the session start time. Live Proxy bidding on Heritage Live now starts within 2 hours of when the auction opens for proxy bidding and continues through the live session.]
Additional Location Info:
Heritage Auctions
2801 W. Airport Freeway
Dallas, TX 75261
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