Unusual collection of 98 FDCs individually and uniquely custom-designed to commemorate the historic Mercury Program, with each cover postmarked at Cape Canaveral on February 20, 1962, the launch date of John Glenn’s Friendship 7 spacecraft, addressed to retired US Air Force veteran and historian Fred A. Hopwood, and each cover bearing affixed distinct, non-repeating clippings and Project Mercury stamps. Images include: various rocket launches; preflight checks and experiments; lunar and spacecraft artwork; underwater training and splashdown recoveries; the chimpanzees Ham and Enos, and the rhesus macaque Sam; the Mercury-Redstone and Atlas LV-3B rockets; the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch complexes; and several of Mercury astronauts Gus Grissom, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Deke Slayton, Wally Schirra, and Alan Shepard. In overall fine condition, with some light staining to most of the covers.
