SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA: JACK LOUSMA, C. GORDON FULLERTON and WILLIAM EDELINE
The 2-man crew and tracking station director on the shuttle's final orbital test flight sign a commemorative envelope.
Commemorative Envelope signed: "Jack Lousma", "Gordon Fullerton" and "William E. Edeline", 6½x3½. Ink stamp cachet featuring the logo of the Lousma-Fullerton test flight of Columbia (STS-3) and of the Goldstone STDN Tracking Station, postmarked postmarked Barstow, California, March 22, 1982. Lousma and Fullerton flew the space shuttle Columbia on its final orbital test flight, March 22-30, 1982. LOUSMA (b.1936), an aeronautical engineer and Marine recon pilot who became an astronaut in 1966, had previously piloted a Skylab mission (September 1973), during which he worked in space for 11 hours. Lousma ran a strong but unsuccessful race for a US Senate seat from Michigan in 1984. FULLERTON (1936-2013), a test pilot and from 1969 an astronaut, had piloted the Enterprise on its final approach and landing test flight. He would return to space on Challenger for the Spacelab 2 mission, July-August 1985. Both astronauts had worked on the Apollo project; Lousma was scheduled to land on the moon on the cancelled Apollo 20 flight. William "Bill" EDELINE was Station Director (STDR) of the Goldstone Tracking Station, part of NASA's Satellite Tracking and Data Network (STDN). Goldstone Station, located in California's Mojave Desert, is now the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex, commonly called Goldstone Observatory, a part of NASA's Deep Space Network. Lightly soiled. Fine condition.