Astronaut Gus Grissom - Second American in Space 1961-07-21   Patrick AFB, FL    VF-UA Cachet maker: Towner This cacheted cover commemorates the launch of the 2nd USA astronaut, Capt. Virgil (Gus) Grissom into space from Port Canaveral, Fl (now Kennedy Space Center) on 07/21/1961. Grissom was in the "Liberty Bell 7 "space capsule on top of a Redstone rocket. The rocket was fired downrange into earth orbit and the space capsule splashed down in the Atlantic ocean about 15 minutes later. The astronaut was recovered by a helicopter from the aircraft carrier "USS Randolph", the prime recovery ship. This cover by Towner is machine cancelled at Patrick AFB, FL on the day of the launch and has a catalog listing of $ 275. It is a very scarce cachet and a nice addition to a manned space collection.