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508

Space Mail

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:0.00 USD Estimated At:200.00 - 300.00 USD
Space Mail

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Auction Date:2010 Jan 13 @ 10:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS in Russian, written and signed by Sergei Treshchov, one page, 8.5 x 11, June 14, 2002. Unique and interesting letter, written on the reverse of a flight manual page, and written while on board the International Space Station. In full: “Hello Dimul’! Thanks for your letter! A very good letter, and I was pleased to read it in orbit. As [you] noticed, [to be] in zero-gravity is cool but it has its disadvantages: Blood surges to the head, so the head feels heavy; because of this, we look ‘a little’ swollen on the screens. The Earth is very beautiful, and the cosmos is black; right now [I have] a lot of work, but as soon as I get caught up, I will take a photo and a video. Write to me by email. Wish you a good vacation at camp. Hugs and kisses. Good bye, Your Dad.” Top of the letter bears an ISS stamp, as well as a Soviet space stamp. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope, postmarked Houston, Texas, July 16, 2002, and bearing an ISS stamp on the front, and Houston and Moscow cancellations on reverse. Treshchov was a member of the Expedition 5 crew launched on June 5, 2002 aboard STS-111 and docked with the International Space Station on June 7, 2002. Treshchov also performed one space walk during his 6-month stay aboard the Space Station. In all during his mission, Treshchov logged 184 days, 22 hours and 14 minutes in space. In fine condition.

Objects that have returned from that final frontier known as space are always highly desirable items. This letter is unique in that not only was it composed while orbiting Earth, but upon its return traveled the US Postal Service overseas until it arrived in Moscow. Personal correspondence is limited to only a handful of pieces aboard the International Space Station—with this very exemplar written on the reverse of a page from a manual. As postal workers both in the US and Russia are very aware of the high value of any personal space mail, these items are dispatched via registered mail. Desirable on so many levels, in no small part due to the combination of initial scarcity and high degree of “disappearance.”
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