Local Exhibitions and Meetings

Please note that email addresses are current at the time of posting of a note. However, they change over time. Older items may contain incorrect addresses.

2011 Space Unit Meeting to be held at NAPEX 2011 (June 3-5)
The 2011 Space Unit Meeting will be held on Saturday, June 4 in the afternoon. The room location will be published in the NAPEX show guide. There will be a BBQ, June 4, 2011, at Woody Witt's house in Northern Virginia (a short drive from the show) in the evening where you can share some camaraderie with fellow space cover enthusiasts.

We expect to have a critical mass of Space Unit members in attendance at the show with great trading material to toss around in the
evenings, and four authors in attendance of recent space cover related books.

At press time there are 32 Frames of Astrophilatelic Exhibits scheduled to be featured at the show:
David Ball: “Americans in Space: Project Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo” - 8 frames
Ray Cartier: “Believe That This Nation... the story of how we reached the moon six times” - 8 frames
Dennis Dillman: “Onboard American Rocketplanes” - 1 frame
Dennis Dillman: “Project Mercury - To Put a Man in Space” - 2 frames
Steve Durst: “The Wernher von Braun Rocket Team in War and Peace” - 7 frames
Steve Durst: “General Barry's Rocket Battalion, 1861-1863” - 1 frame
John Macco: “Apollo-Soyuz Test Project” - 5 frames

Hilton McLean Tysons Corner
7920 Jones Branch Drive
McLean, Virginia 22102
703-761-5111
http://www.napex.org/venue.htm
NAPEX show rate (available for June 1-5) $135/night + taxes

NAPEX Show information can be found at http://www.napex.org

North Texas Space Unit Meeting
Five members of the SU will drive down to Houston for a scheduled meeting on Saturday, September 19th at 3:00 PM in conjunction with the Greater Houston Stamp Show. The location of the show is the Humble Civic Center - 8233 Will Clayton Pkwy. - Humble, Texas. Postcards have been sent so that all 22 Texas SU members are aware of the show and have the opportunity to meet with several long time Space Cover enthusiasts. A first showing of a 6-frame exhibit on Apollo 11, starting with a signed Explorer 1 cover by James vanAllen and going through an Apollo
11 Captain's cover for splashdown will be on the show floor. All attendees are encouraged to bring space collectibles to show, trade, sell or have identified.
Following the close of the show, attendees are invited to join up for dinner at a local restaurant and then gather at a hotel room at the official show hotel, the Hampton Inn at 20515 Hwy. 59 Norht at Will Clayton Pkwy. in Humble.
They have a special show rate of $85 per night including a hot continental breakfast, and they offer free shuttle service between the airport and the show site. Reservations at (281) 446-4800 must be made by September 4th and callers must mention the Houston Stamp Show Rate. More information about the show is at www.houstonstampclub.org.
The North Texas Study Unit is known for its fun gatherings over the last 35 years or so. Attendees can learn how to participate in a three-way, four-way or greater trade to get items you want from others who don't want what you have.
Ray Cartier

Space Unit Meeting for Balpex 2009 - Updated

There will be a Space Unit meeting at the Baltimore Philatelic Society's Balpex on Saturday September 5, 2009 at the Marriott Hotel, Hunt Valley near Baltimore. Meeting will be in Salon "C" from 4:00 - 5:00 pm.The guest speaker will be Captain Joseph Guion, the Commanding Officer of the USS Kiowa for the ship's successful recovery of space monkey's Able and Baker on May 28, 1959. Space Unit attendees will also receive a free hard copy Apollo 11-17 space book at the meeting. And of course bring those covers for Captain Guion to autograph as well as any you wish to trade. It looks like Balpex will be a super get together.

See also article by By Dennis Dillman, SU #3324

Space Unit's National Meeting for 2008

The Space Unit's National Meeting for 2008 will be held from 1:00 to 3:00 on Saturday August 23 in conjunction with the AmeriCover show at the Fairview Park Marriott, 3111 Fairview Park Dr., Falls Church, Va. 22042 (a suburb of Washington, DC).

Our guest speaker will be one of the pioneers of early missile development for the US Navy, Capt. Grayson Merrill (USN, retired). Capt. Merrill, also known as the "Father of Point Mugu", has had a long and influential Navy career. The Class Deck Officer in the Bureau of Aeronautics during WWII, Merrill helped oversee the creation of assault drones for use against Japan. In the post-war era he helped prepare specifications for 18 guided missiles, including the Regulus, Lark, Gorgon and Gargoyle. He played a key role in the creation of the Naval Air Missile Test Center at Pt. Mugu, and was the director of testing there for four years (1946-49). Prior to retirement from the Navy in 1957, Captain Merrill was the first technical director for the Polaris ballistic missile program. A true renaissance man, Captain Merrill co-authored a ground -breaking series of guided missile design textbooks, and also wrote the gripping Cold War novel "Conger Eel."

The meeting will also include a short report from the senior Space Unit officer at the meeting and (but of course) trading!! Bring trade stuff!!!

The evening of August 23, Steve Durst has graciously volunteered to have a cookout at his home in nearby Millersville, Md. Steve is also working up a tour of Ft. McHenry, home of "…the rockets' red glare…" for Sunday morning August 24 for all who are interested.

More details will come in future editions of the Astrophile and on the SU Web site.

So don't miss this celebration of "The Early Days" of missile development. And bring trade stuff…

There isn't an astro class at Americover - we fit into their "Illustrated Mail" category. Steve Durst, Eugene Mszar, and Denniss Dillman have all entered exhibits but the deadline is June 22, so we do not know if we've been accepted or not. Dennis fills 4 frames, Steve fills at least 7, and Eugene 2.

Former astronaut Hank Hartsfield to speak at ATA awards banquet in Texas 2007
Hank Hartsfield, a former astronaut and a stamp collector, will speak at the American Topical Association Banquet during its National Topical Stamp Show 2007 in Irving, Texas on Saturday, June 16th.

The show will be at the Sheraton Grand in Irving, TX, June 15-17, 2007. Some of the info should be posted to our website, www.americantopicalassn.org The show entrance and parking are free. There will be several NASA artifacts on display at the Space Unit society table, along with a Korean War howitzer shell used for dropping propaganda leaflets. There will be a display of space covers with the signatures of every individual who went into space during the first 25 years of Manned Space Flight.

This will be primarily a stamp show, but with extras. The theme will be Western. We will have a saddled Texas Longhorn Steer in the parking lot for photos (fee required). There will be several youth related activities, including Youth Stamp Camp and Champion of Champion Youth Stamp Exhibit competition. Live Country entertainment with the Furlong Sisters at the President's Reception on Friday night, June 15, and live mariachi's performing at the Awards Banquet on Saturday night, June 16.

There will be a First Day of Issue ceremony on Friday morning at 9:00 AM for a new stamp honoring both the Texas Rangers and the Winchester Rifle, with a Texas Ranger from Company B unveiling the stamp and telling listeners a little about this famous group of lawmen. Texas authors from the National Outlaw and Lawment Association will be selling books about real western heroes and villains all day Saturday.

Check the web site at www.americantopicalassn.org for details including preregistration forms and tour reservations or contact the ATA at Box 57, Arlington, TX 76004-0057, USA or email to americantopical@msn.com.


UPDATED INFORMATION ON BALPEX 2005
Our guest speaker will be Jim Munroe. Mr. Munroe was aboard the USS Fletcher on May 16, 1963 during the MA-9 recovery of Mercury Astronaut, Gordon Cooper.

EXHIBITING AT BALPEX 2005
There will be a Space Unit Meeting at Balpex on Saturday September 3, 2005. It is is scheduled for 11am - 1 pm in Salon E.

LATEST ON SPACE UNIT MEETING AT NAPEX 2005 - Updated
We are pleased to announce that the guest speaker for the Space Unit meeting June 4 at NAPEX will be Rear Admiral Carl J. Seiberlich, former Commanding Officer of the USS Hornet (CVS-12) for the Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 mission recoveries.

Admiral Seiberlich will give a short presentation concerning his role in the recovery of the Apollo 11 crew and will offer some additional comments about the present conservatory work for USS Hornet, moored in Alameda, CA; and the Apollo 11 crew quarantine quarters presently located at the new Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum Annex near DullesInternational Airport.

He will also autograph photos, covers, and memorabilia of folks attending his presentation. As a footnote, I would ask you to limit this to two items as we anticipate this meeting will be heavily attended.

The meeting will be held in the Mount Vernon Room of the McLean Hilton, 7920 Jones Branch Dr, McLean, Va (near Tysons Corner). The meeting will begin at 4:00 pm and go until the show closes at 6:00.

Details of the Space Unit Napex Meeting at Napex: Time is 4-6 PM Saturday June 4, 2005 in the Mount Vernon Room in the McLean Hilton

EXHIBITING AT NAPEX 2005
Any Space unit member who wants to exhibit at Napex to submit applications NOW as April 15th is closing date. For more information and prospectus and applications are available on the web (www.napex.org)

SPACE UNIT MEETING AT NAPEX 2005
This meeting will be held on Saturday June 4, 2005. Time and room to be finalized.

SPACE UNIT MEETINGS IN 2005
1) John Macco, Vice Presidentof the Space Unit is planning to hold Space Unit meetings at the NAPEX and BALPEX philatelic exhibitions in 2005. Each meeting is tentatively booked for 2 hours.
Contact John Macco - johnmacco007@comcast.net

2) On April 9 2005 The Space Unit will sponsor it's 11th Stamp & Postcard at the First German Sports Club, 60-60 Metropolitian Ave, Ridgewood Queens, NY. Any detail or question contact Carmine Torrisi at Tel # 718-386-7882 ( After 7:30) or email ctorrisi@nyc.rr.com .

SPACE UNIT 4th Overseas' Member's Meeting Report
Space Unit Overseas Members learn:
More than one Cosmic Mail cancel for Soyuz 28
By Jürgen Peter Esders, International Director, Europe

Collectors from four European nations gathered at the 4th Space Unit Overseas Members Meeting last 9 October in the Czech Republic. SU members Bart Beimers from the Netherlands, and Erhard Mutz and Hans-Ferdinand Virnich together with Austria's FIP Astrophilately Commission member Miri Matejka from Austria joined Space Unit's International Director Jürgen P. Esders at the Northern Bohemian city of Vysoké Mýto to share talks, listen to a lecture and trade space covers. The Space Unit members were joined by a dozen unaffiliated space collectors from the Czech Republic in an effort to meet each other and explore subjects of mutual interest.

Julius Cacka, head of the space section of the Czech Philatelic Federation, introduced the participants to the findings of his study on the use of the Soviet bord cancel during the first international visit to space station Salyut 6 back in 1978. On this flight, Czech cosmonaut Vladimir Remek became the first non-American/non-Russian spacefarer. Not only one stamping device had been used, as the official Soviet position says, but at least five different devices were employed before and after the flight in places like Cosmodrome Baikonur, Moscow and Prague, Cacka found out after carefully comparing minor graphical differences on the imprints. Also, there were forgeries of both the Soviet and the Czech cancel, likely to originate in what was formerly the German Democratic Republic.

At the time of the meeting, a regional astrophilatelic exhibition of collections specialising on aerophilately and astrophilately took place in a local museum. 26 collections competed for medals on "Aerospace 04", and Space Unit members Beimers, Mutz and Matejka won Gold medals for all of them (see overview). Beimers and Virnich were also showing their previously decorated collections on Chinese spaceflights in the Court of Honor.

On Saturday, a special postmarker showing Sputnik and a jet air craft was used. Two stationery postcards commemorated the 40th Anniversary of the first three-man spaceflight Voskhod 1 and the local airport, the Voskhod card being sold out on the first day of the exhibition already. The city administration employed two slogan cancels in their stamping machine, honouring Soyuz 28 backup cosmonaut Oldrich Pelcak and a Czech aviation pioneer.

It was the same Pelcak who was also the guest of honour to the meeting following the Space Unit gathering. Well weathered and with a Schwejk like sense of humour, Pelcak thoroughly enjoyed sharing anecdotes of his time as a cosmonaut candidate, and demonstrated docking techniques using a soda and a beer glass getting together in the airspace between the emptied bottles of Czech beer standing in front of him. After the talk, Pelcak granted countless autographs on the books, photos and covers laid in front of him.

SU member	Subject of the exhibit	Medal won
Erhard Mutz	Space Flight	Gold
Miri Matejka	The spaceflight of Vladimir Remek	Gold
Miri Matejka	Interesting items from early spaceflight	Gold
Miri Matejka	The spaceflight of Austronaut Viehböck	Gold
Bart A. Beimers	The triumph of a dream	Gold
Hans-Ferdinand Virnich	China's Divine vessels - Shenzhou	Court of Honor
Bart A. Beimers	Dragon in Space	Court of Honor

Some Pictures Taken at the Meeting






More on SPACE UNIT MEETINGS IN 2004 - Updated
APS StampShow 2004 - Sacramento, CA August 14. Time TBD
Contact Ray E. Cartier - ataexecdir@earthlink.net
BALPEX - Baltimore, is scheduled for Saturday September 4, 2004 in Salon-D from 2-3PM
Contact John Macco - johnmacco007@comcast.net
CHICAGOPEX (Annual Space Unit Meeting) - Chicago, IL November 20
Contact Dr Ben Ramkissoon - rramkissoon@juno.com

SPACE UNIT 4th Overseas' Member's Meeting
Vysoké Mýto, Czech Republic, 9 October 2004:
Space Unit holds 4th Overseas’ Member’s Meeting for European Members.

The Space Unit, the World’s largest organization of collectors of space stamps and covers, will hold its 4th Overseas’ Members Meeting this fall in the Czech Republic.

On 9 October 2004, Space Unit members of at least five European states will gather in the Central Bohemian town of Vysoké Mýto, near Pardubice. A presentation on Russian bord cancels for the Joint-Russian Czech Spaceflight Mission Soyuz 28 by the head of the Cosmos Section of the Czech Philatelic Federation will be in the centre of attention. The Meeting is organized in co-operation with this Federation and open for non-Members.

The choice of the small Czech town as meeting place was guided by the presence of an International Aero- and Astrophilatelic Exhibition, “Aerospace 04”, during the same week (5-10 October 2004). The Exhibition will showcase three dozen top collections and the field and see the presence of two backup cosmonauts, Oldøich Pelèak from the Czech Republic and Mihal Fulier from the Slovak Republic. A stationery postcard commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the first multi-crewed spacecraft, the Russian Voskhod spacecraft, will be issued by the Czech Post on the occasion. A special postmarker shall also be used there.

The meeting will start at 1 pm in the “Sportcentrum” (Jiráskova 111) and end two hours later. The meeting will be in English and German. Right after the meeting, cosmonauts Pelèak and Fulier will participate in a panel discussion. Vysoké Mýto is about 150 km from the Czech capital, Prague.

The Space Unit is a non-profit organization based in the USA and was founded in 1957. To cater for its international members, it has two International Directors, for Europe and the Pacific Region, respectively. Previous meetings took place in Nuremberg (1999), Madrid (2000) and Brussels (2001).

For further information, contact Jürgen P Esders, Space Unit International Director for Europe, at JPEsders@web.de

SPACE UNIT MEETINGS IN 2004
There will be Space Unit meetings at the Napex and Balpex philatelic exhibitions on June 4-6, 2004 and September 3-5, 2004. The Napex show is in McClean, Va. and the Balpex show is held in Hunt Valley, MD. Our meeting at Napex will be held on Saturday June, 5, 2004 from 3-5 PM in the Jackson Room. We look forward to seeing many members there.
Anybody interested in either or both of the meetings can e-mail John Macco for details.

SPACE UNIT NATIONAL MEETING SEPT 20 IN PHILADELPHIA
On March 20 , 2004, The New York Chapter of the Space Unit will sponsor its' 10th Annual Stamp Show. The Post Office will be there and a Space Cancel Honoring The Mercury 13 Fellow Lady Astronaut Trainees - The 1960 Women astronaut Canadate Finalists. It is free and all are invited to come. If you need directions or a table at the show, contact Carmine Torrisi at ctorrisi1@juno.com or ctorrisi@nyc.rr.com

SPACE UNIT NATIONAL MEETING SEPT 20 IN PHILADELPHIA
As the title says, the Space Unit will have our national meeting on Saturday, September 20, 3 pm in the afternoon, in conjunction with the Philadelphia National Stamp Exhibition (PNSE). The PNSE show will be held at the Valley Forge Convention Center, 1200 First Ave., King of Prussia, Pa. The show will be open September 19 - 21.

Come to the meeting to meet fellow Space Unit members including Ray Cartier, our national president and the executive director of the American Topical Association. AND BRING TRADE STUFF! We usually top off our meeting with a trade session that can last half the night!

Also at the show, see some great astrophilatelic exhibits including Ben Ramkisoon's gold medal winning "Development of US Lunar Exploration", Steve Durst's "German Influence on the US Space Program", Dennis Dillman's "From Muroc to the Millenium: A Study of Edwards AFB", (I'm not sure whose exhibit this is) "Yuri Gagarin and the Covers of Poland", and more.

Check out the Space Unit web page at: http://stargate.1usa.com/stamps/ or watch http://collectspace.com/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi/ then click "Stamps & Covers" for developments.

Make your plans now!

Thanks,
Dennis Dillman
SU#3324

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