In April of 1981, John Young and Bob Crippen took the first space shuttle, Columbia, on a two day test flight. The shuttle performed nearly flawlessly. Young would fly one more time, on STS-9, and then retire as NASA's most revered astronaut, a legend who has flown 6 times, twice each on Gemini, Apoollo and Shuttle. Crippen would fly the shuttle four times. Beautiful, neatly signed cover with color mission cachet, and Robert McCall stamps cancelled on the launch date, April 12.
Outer mat is royal blue brushed suede with gold fillet and accents.
Cover can be easily removed, and is treated with wei-to museum deacidifier.