COLONEL C. GORDON FULLERTON - FIRST DAY COVER SIGNED CO-SIGNED BY: PHILIP K. CHAPMAN, COLONEL DUANE E. GRAVELINE - HFSID 65520

ASTRONAUTS: GORDON FULLERTON, PHILIP CHAPMAN and DUANE GRAVELINE
Gordon Fullerton, Philip Chapman and Duane Graveline sign s first day cover honoring the Pioneer unmanned space probe to Jupiter.
First Day Cover signed: "Gordon Fullerton", "Duane Graveline/MD" and "Phil Chapman", 6½x3½. First Day Cover honoring the Pioneer unmanned space probe to Jupiter, 10-cent stamp affixed, postmarked Mountain View, California, February 28, 1975, FIRST DAY OF ISSUE. A NASA astronaut from September 1969-November 1986, Charles Gordon FULLERTON (1936-2013) logged 380 hours in space. He piloted the STS-3 space shuttle Columbia on its eight-day test mission (March 22-30, 1982) and was Commander of the STS-51F Spacelab 2 mission (launched from Kennedy Space Center on July 29, 1985 and landing at Dryden on August 6, 1985) in addition to serving on the support crew of Apollo 14, 15, 16 and 17. Australian-born Philip K. CHAPMAN (1935-1975) was selected as a scientist-astronaut by NASA in 1967. After initial academic training and a 53-week course in flight training at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, he was involved in preparations for lunar missions, serving as mission scientist for the Apollo 14 mission. Because of the lack of space flight opportunities for scientist-astronauts, Dr. Chapman left NASA in July 1972. He died in 1975. Flight surgeon Duane GRAVELINE (b.1931) served in mission control during the Mercury and Gemini space programs. He trained as an astronaut (1965), but chose to return to private medical practice. He has written eleven novels: science fiction and medical thrillers. Slightly soiled. Otherwise, fine condition.