Don Peterson Signed STS-6 Space Shuttle Cachet — First Shuttle EVA, 1983 View Watchlist >
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Lot # Nasa110Z5
System ID # 29527318
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Don Peterson Signed STS-6 Space Shuttle Cachet — First Shuttle EVA, Pasadena 1983
On April 4, 1983, Don Peterson and Story Musgrave suited up, depressurized the airlock, and stepped outside Challenger into the void — the first spacewalk in the history of the Space Shuttle program. Peterson had waited a long time for that moment. Selected by NASA in 1969 as part of the group of military astronauts transferred wholesale from the Air Force's cancelled Manned Orbiting Laboratory program, he had spent fourteen years training, waiting, and watching other men fly before STS-6 finally put him in orbit. He flew once. He walked in space once. That was enough to put his name permanently in the record books.
This air mail cover was postmarked in Pasadena, CA on 4 APR 1983 — the same day Challenger lifted off on its maiden flight, making it a same-day contemporaneous piece rather than a later tribute. Peterson signed it in bold black ink across the face, below a turquoise rubber-stamp Space Shuttle cachet. The machine slogan cancel reads "Explorer 1 — 25 Years U.S. in Space," tying this single cover to two milestone moments in American space history simultaneously. Franking is a 20¢ flag/Supreme Court definitive. The envelope is unaddressed and was never mailed through — it came to the signer directly.
History
Donald Herod Peterson (1933–2018) was a decorated USAF colonel, test pilot, and one of the MOL astronauts — a group whose program was axed in 1969 before any of them left the atmosphere. NASA absorbed the group and put them back in line. Peterson finally flew on STS-6, April 4–9, 1983, Challenger's maiden voyage, as Mission Specialist. On April 7, he and Musgrave conducted a 4-hour, 17-minute EVA — the first of the Shuttle era — testing the new extravehicular mobility unit suits. He retired from NASA shortly after, making STS-6 his sole spaceflight. That singularity makes his signature one of the cleaner and more focused acquisition targets in the early Shuttle autograph market: one mission, one walk, one name that belongs to a specific and unrepeatable moment.
Authenticity
Signature is in a bold, fully legible hand consistent with known examples of Don Peterson's autograph. Mesilla Valley Estate Sales will issue a Certificate of Authenticity with this piece.
CONDITION
Very Good. Envelope presents brightly with a crisp printed air mail border, clean cachet strike, and a dark, unsmudged signature. Minor handling marks and faint scattered toning specks to the reverse. Envelope is unaddressed and unsealed.
DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS
- 3 5/8" × 6 1/2"
- Postmark: Pasadena, CA — 4 APR 1983
- Franking: 20¢ USA flag / Supreme Court definitive
- Signed in black ink: "Don Peterson"
- COA: Mesilla Valley Estate Sales
