Recovery, Tracking & Communication Ship Covers
This section of the Space Unit Web site is designed to bring together information from various sources on the Recovery, Tracking & Communication ships that participated in various space missions and list the covers produced for those ships, concentrating on manned missions and precursors from the USA. Some of the sources are already on our Web site but are scattered in different sections. Others are external. Together they represent a comprehensive review of the various recovery efforts and the covers that are available.
Highlights - Two New Books and More to Come
From time to time, different areas will be highlighted. We are indeed lucky that, as part of the opening of
this new section of the Space Unit Web site, I am able to bring you representative draft sections from two wonderful
upcoming books, authored by our own Steve Durst. One book looks at the Mercury program while the other
looks at the Gemini program from an astrophilatelic point of view using event covers to illustrate their
stories. These extensive books are set to become must haves for all those interested in the astrophilatelic aspect
of the US manned Space program. They involve a large amount of research by Steve, with help from other members
of the Space Unit, and include much new information. While covering all aspects of the various missions, including
precursors missions, the books are especially strong in the area of Recovery Ships and Recovery Ship covers. The
books present much new information on what ships were involved and what covers were issued, and represent the most
up to date and accurate information in that area that is presently available. The books are fully illustrated,
in colour, and show many rarely seen covers, including an example of all known Recovery Ship covers. The appendices
contain tables which list much valuable information and which add greatly to the overall effort. Not only that,
but they make damn good reading and are a great introduction to the area. The representative sections on this site
include the contents page, showing the reader what areas are covered by the books, plus 2 or 3 representative chapters
which give a good idea of what the books are all about.
But that's not all! Steve is presently working on a similar book on the Apollo program and I'll keep you
updated on its progress.
Any questions should be directed to Steve Durst.
A brief mention should also be made (more details later) of a new Web site devoted to Recovery Ship covers. It
has been developed by Dr Ross J Smith and can be found at http://recovery_ships.rossjsmith.com/
. The site is an ongoing effort and comments and additions are welcomed.
Contributions
I welcome contributions and comments on this new section of the SU Web site. Contributions can be articles, scans of covers or stamps, information, comments or any other relevant items. The more contributions, the better the site. Email all contributions to the Webmaster.