Bruce McCandless II Signed STS-41B Spacewalk — "Builder of the Shuttle Wing" View Watchlist >
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Lot # Nasa110D
System ID # 29519636
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Bruce McCandless II Signed STS-41B Spacewalk — "Builder of the Shuttle Wing"
On February 7, 1984, Bruce McCandless II floated away from the shuttle Challenger with nothing connecting him to the vehicle — no tether, no lifeline, just a nitrogen-jet backpack called the Manned Maneuvering Unit and four hundred feet of open space between him and the rest of humanity. The photograph NASA took that day — a lone astronaut silhouetted against the blackness, Earth curving behind him — became one of the defining images of the Space Age. McCandless had waited sixteen years on the astronaut corps before his first spaceflight. He used it to do something no human had ever done.
This commemorative airmail cover was issued by Grumman Aerospace Corp. of Bethpage, N.Y. — the firm that built the orbiter's wing structure — to mark their contribution to the mission. McCandless signed it himself in the upper left, inscribing his name and title: Space Shuttle Astronaut. The blue cachet reads "STS-11 SPACEWALK / GRUMMAN AEROSPACE CORP. / BETHPAGE N.Y. / BUILDER OF THE SHUTTLE WING." It is franked with a 20¢ flag stamp and cancelled at the Bethpage post office on FEB 9 1984 — two days after the spacewalk, while the mission was still in orbit. That postmark is not incidental. It places the cover exactly inside the event it commemorates.
Significance & Rarity
The free-flight EVA on STS-41B is the kind of moment that defines a career and an era. McCandless became a household image before he was a household name — which means covers bearing his actual signature remain far less common than the photograph most people recognize. A flight-week-cancelled cover from the issuing aerospace contractor, signed in full by the man who made the walk, is the primary document of that event in miniature form.
Authenticity
A Certificate of Authenticity from Mesilla Valley Estate Sales is issued with this lot.
CONDITION
Very Good. Clean, bright envelope with a crisp cachet impression and a legible postmark; the signature is dark and unsmeared. Light handling only; reverse shows minor edge toning at the flap.
DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS
- Cover: 3 5/8" × 6 1/2"
- Mission: STS-11 / STS-41B
- Postmark: FEB 9 1984, Bethpage USPO
- Franking: 20¢ USA Flag stamp
- Cachet: Grumman Aerospace Corp. "Builder of the Shuttle Wing"
- Signed: Bruce McCandless II, Space Shuttle Astronaut
- Certificate of Authenticity: Mesilla Valley Estate Sales
