LOT #71013 |
Current Bid: $56
Mercury-Atlas 8 (Sigma 7): Wally Schirra Signed Launch Cover [and] U.S.S. Kear...
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Description
Mercury-Atlas 8 (Sigma 7): Wally Schirra Signed Launch Cover [and] U.S.S. Kearsarge Project Mercury Task Force Recovery Cover. A pair of commemorative philatelic covers honoring this mission. As follows.Launch: A cover featuring a colorful SpaceCraft cachet, bearing a 4¢ "Project Mercury" stamp hand-canceled at Cape Canaveral on October 3, 1962. Signed in blue ink: "Wally Schirra". Informative stiffener card included. Unaddressed. Excellent.
Recovery: A philatelic cover with a stamped "Canaveral to Kearsarge" cachet, bearing a 4¢ "Project Mercury" stamp hand-canceled aboard the actual recovery ship on October 3, 1962. Signed as above in bold blue felt tip. An uncanceled "John Fitzgerald Kennedy" memorial stamp was added at a later date. Unaddressed. Excellent.
Mercury-Atlas 8, also known as Sigma 7, was NASA's fifth crewed Mercury mission and further validated human endurance and spacecraft reliability in orbit. Astronaut Walter M. Schirra Jr. completed six orbits during a nearly 10-hour mission, focusing on precise control and operational efficiency rather than duration alone. The mission demonstrated that astronauts could manually control the spacecraft effectively while maintaining stable systems, a crucial skill for future complex missions. Schirra's smooth, methodical flight helped build confidence in piloted orbital operations, bridging Mercury's short missions to the extended flights of Gemini and Apollo. Upon mission completion, the capsule splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean and Schirra was recovered by the USS Kearsarge. 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
11 Days
11h 46m 23s
Internet/Mail Bids: 3
Lot Tracking Activity: 12
Page Views: 52
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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