I’ve had this curious Apollo 14 stamp, in the form of an imperforate souvenir sheet, in my collection for about 2 decades, and it still puzzles me after all these years. It seems to have a bit of a god muddle going on. 

Gabon airmail souvenir sheet Apollo 14 Commemorative 1971

I found it in a box of cast-off stamps I bought cheap at an auction. It fit into my airmail collection niche, so I decided to keep it.  It is a fun sheet but … a little baffling.

Why is the Norse god Thor on an Apollo stamp? I’ve searched all manner of articles over the years to see if there is a connection, but to date, I’ve come up blank. I could understand the Greek god Apollo making an appearance, but the god of thunder? Then again … Thor also commanded the skies and if you look at the stamp with that in mind, the imagery makes a kind of sense, although it is a stretch going from Greek myths to Norse.  

Apollo 14 nitty gritty

The Apollo 14 mission took place between January 31 – February 9, 1971. The trip culminated in NASA’s 3rd moon landing. 

On Feb. 6, 1971, after completing 34 lunar orbits lasting 66 hours and 35 minutes, the three crew members fired their spacecraft’s engine to start their three-day journey back to Earth. During the journey home, the astronauts conducted several experiments taking advantage of the unique weightless environment before preparing for their splashdown and recovery. 50 Years Ago: Apollo 14 Heads for Home | NASA

Apollo 14 Command and Service Module Kitty Hawk

The three-man crew consisted of Alan B. Shepard Jr., Stuart A. Roosa and Edgar D. Mitchell.  Shepard and Mitchell landed on the moon, the 5th and 6th humans to do so, while Roosa had the unenviable task of remaining alone in the command module maintaining orbit.  By the time 14 took off, public interest in moon shots had faded. The only stamps marking this mission were issued by Gabon, Fujiera, Hungary, Liberia, Niger and Romania. The US didn’t issue a specific stamp, although they did issue The United States in Space – Decade of Achievement pair. 

August 2, 1971, USA stamps celebrating Decade of Space Achievement

I have this pair kicking around somewhere, but I recently began to reorganise my airmails, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out where I put them. Never try to get organised, it never ends well. 

In an interesting side note, the Apollo 14 crew carried postal covers with them on the mission. Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell had them as part of his crew kit and they went with him to the moon surface. Mitchell was the only astronaut to sign the 55 covers, When Apollo 14 returned to earth, the covers were postmarked February 26,1971 and each one has the special red Delayed in Quarantine hand stamp. The last time the covers came up for auction was back in 2017, when two went under the hammer. Only one sold (cover 54 out of 55) for $30,740. Cover number 24 remained unsold.  Each cover carried the now iconic 1969 “First Man on the Moon” stamp. This particular image isn’t my stamp. Mine is AWOL with the above two. I stood staring at my albums the other day muttering “If I were an American moon stamp, where would I hide”. Didn’t work, still can’t figure out where I put them. Organisation isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. 

US – First Man on the Moon September 9, 1969

But back to the hero of our story – Thor 

I’ve scoured through archives, newsletters, websites, pretty much any resource I could get my hands on to make the connection. The only answer I came up with was artistic license. But you have to admit, he’s a kick ass Thor! I wish I knew who the artist was, because they deserve a bit of recognition.  It isn’t what I normally expect with airmails but brings a grin to my face every time I page by it. 

The sheet, titled Memoration to launching of Apollo 14, comes in both imperforate sheet and regular with two stamps showing different views of the Apollo spacecraft – Modules attached and Earth Re-entry.  It’s part of a larger set that follows the mission from liftoff to re-entry.  7 stamps were released, plus the s/s above:

The 7 stamps above are not part of my collection, by the way. I only have the s/s, but will eventually collar these stamps:

• Lift off
• Achieving orbit
• Lunar module attached
• Lunar module descent
• Lunar landing
• Lunar liftoff
• Earth re-entry

Once you get past the initial shock of seeing Thor hammering the Apollo spacecraft into orbit, it’s a pretty good set. The illustrations are solid, and they tell the mission story without words needed. A well thought out design in my opinion. I’m glad I kept the sheet and look forward to acquiring all 7 stamps. Think I’ll put them on my Christmas wish list for this year. 

If you’d like to read a bit more about the Apollo 14 mission, try these links: 
50 Years Ago: Two Months Until Apollo 14 | NASA  
NASA History Media Resources | NASA

From my own archives:
Moon mail – anniversary of the Apollo Moon landing | Bitter Grounds Magazine

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