Here is one of my most prized acquisitions, one of the 298 famous, or should I say infamous, Sieger/Apollo 15 crew owned mail covers that were flown to the moon's surface. This one is numbered '240' of '300'. And, no, that's not a typo! There were initially 300, but apparently, for whatever reason, only 298 actually ended up on the moon! Some folks make a big deal about the numbering, but, in my opinion, the numbering means nothing since all 298 covers were part of the same 'bundle' carried by Apollo 15 Astronauts Dave Scott and Jim Irwin to the moon's surface in LM Falcon. Subsequently returned to earth. Where they were then confiscated by the U.S. Government, until eventually being returned to the crew of Apollo 15.... ELEVEN YEARS LATER! And then, only after Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot Al Worden sued the U.S. Government demanding they be returned to the crew! So, whether you have number 1, or number 298, they were all on the surface of the moon at the same time! The numbering has absolutely no real significance whatsoever. Neither do the differing stamp combinations found on some of these covers.
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The number '158', as notated in the upper right corner, is the U.S. Government's seized document inventory identifier. Next to that are the initials 'SNH'. The number and the initials were both added after they were seized from the Apollo 15 crew by the U.S. Government. The following excerpt from 'Space Flown Artifacts: The Flown Apollo 15 Covers', authored by Howard C. Weinberger, provides some great information about the origin of the both the numbers and the initials seen on these covers:
'In the upper right corner of the reverse of the Sieger/Crew Owned [covers]... [are] the small handwritten initials of S. Neil Hosenball (SNH), NASA's General Counsel [at the time], and a serial number, which NASA assigned at the time of their confiscation. The Sieger/Crew Owned covers are numbered 1-298...'
LOA
Below is a picture of Scott saluting the Flag on the surface of the moon. Scott admitted that the bundled covers were initially placed in the pocket of his spacesuit shortly before liftoff! Over the years, he has been somewhat evasive about what he did with them after that! So.... if the covers stayed in that pocket for the duration, then they were actually on the surface of the moon with Scott during his EVA's, as seen in this picture! However, if, as some have speculated, Scott removed the covers from his spacesuit pocket prior to landing on the moon and simply stored them somewhere inside the LM, then that's where they remained during Scott's EVA'S!
LM OR POCKET?
YOU DECIDE!
According to NASA release 72-189, issued Sept. 15, 1972: 'These 398 [covers] were properly packaged for flight and carried on board Apollo 15 by Scott in a pocket of his space suit'. Scott later reportedly said that he may have removed the bundled covers from his suit leg-pocket and placed them in another storage location aboard LM-10/Falcon once the crew left earth orbit. Scott also allegedly stated that he seemed to recall the bundled covers not being inside his space suit pocket while he was on the moon. However with Scott, you never know whether you're getting the full story or, whether he's just clouding the issue because of his bitterness over the whole affair. Either way, in one form or another, this cover was 'on' the moon with Scott and his fellow moonwalker, Irwin.
Two card inserts, hand notated '158A' and '158B', both initialed 'SNH' (S. Neil Hosenball), also came with this Sieger/Crew Owned cover. The following excerpt from Weinberger's 'Space Flown Artifacts: The Flown Apollo 15 Covers' provides some great information about these inserts:
'Some of the Sieger/Crew Owned covers have a small (unflown) card inserted inside the cover, some signed by a crew member...'
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Photo showing comparison of notations placed on this Sieger/Crew Owned cover and both inserts after being turned over to the the U.S. Government by the Apollo 15 Astronauts.
Below is one of the best narratives I have found describing the history surrounding these Sieger/Crew Owned covers.
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