CAPTAIN RONALD E. EVANS - COMMEMORATIVE ENVELOPE SIGNED - HFSID 131351

RONALD E. EVANS. Commemorative Envelope signed: "Ron Evans", 6½x3¾. Special cover honoring the Moon landing of Apollo 17, 8-cent stamp flag stamp affixed, postmarked Houston, TX, December 11, 1972. Cachet pictures the three Apollo 17 astronauts posing with the Lunar Lander, Challenger. The rocket that would blast them off to the Moon is in the background. Captioned: "Apollo 17 - Moonlanding/December 11, 1972 - 2:55 P.M./After guiding the Lunar Lander 'Challenger' over a range of 6,000 foot mountains - Astronauts Cernan and Schmitt put down in a shallow depression less than 600 feet from the planned touchdown point at Taurus-Littrow, less than a second off schedule. At 6:55 P.M. the two Astronauts stepped off the footpad onto the lunar surface." RON EVANS, who orbited overhead in the command module, America, during the Apollo 17 mission, had been one of 19 astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966. He served as a member of the astronaut support crews for the Apollo 7 and Apollo 11 flights and as backup Command Module pilot for Apollo 14. Apollo 17, which was launched on December 7, 1972 and concluded on December 19, 1972, was the last manned mission to the Moon. It set records for the longest manned lunar landing flight, longest lunar surface extravehicular activities, largest lunar sample return and longest time in lunar orbit. While fellow astronauts Eugene Cernan (spacecraft Commander) and Harrison Schmitt explored the Taurus-Littrow landing area, Evans made visual geographical observations, photographed specific targets and operated highly sophisticated scientific equipment carried in the command module SIM-bay. He later completed a one hour and six minute extravehicular activity during the return flight, successfully retrieving three camera cassettes and inspecting the equipment bay area. Evans, who retired from NASA in March 1977, died on April 6, 1990. Fine condition.