Rare Mercury-Redstone 3 mission item on a 6 cent air mail cover bearing a circular hand stamp cancellation "USS Lake Champlain / (CVS-39) / May 5 A.M. 1961" and typewritten notation "USS Lake Champlain CVS-39 / Recovery Ship for the First U.S. Manned Space Flight / 5 May 1961." Features signatures of the first U.S. human in space flight "Alan Shepard Jr." and the co-pilot of the helicopter that retrieved his capsule "George Cox." Other signatures include most of the original "Mercury Seven" astronauts "Deke Slayton," "Gordon Cooper," Wally Schirra," and "Scott Carpenter."

Provenance: Dr. Alan York Estate

Toning