Los 191 USA

(Mercury Astronauts Autographs) USS Randolph (CVS-15), Jul 21, 1961. Four bar duplex postmark tying 1940, 1¢ green (899) on unaddressed 1950, 6¢ Airmail entire, with bold signatures of America's pioneer Mercury astronauts of "The Original Seven" including Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Walter Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton, Extremely Fine, with 2025 P.F. certificate. Scott No. UC18; Estimate $2,000 - 3,000. On July 21, 1961, NASA astronaut Gus Grissom piloted the Liberty Bell 7 capsule on the second successful U.S. human spaceflight. The suborbital flight lasted 15 minutes and 30 seconds, reaching an altitude of over 100 nautical miles. Upon landing in the Atlantic, a faulty explosive bolt opened the capsule's hatch, causing it to flood and sink. Grissom recovered on ship USS Randolph.