Item: Andriyan Nikolayev handsigned Russian postcard
Size: 10.9 x 14.3 cm.

Description: Andriyan Grigoryevich Nikolayev was a Soviet cosmonaut and military pilot who was born on September 5, 1929, in Shorshely, Russia.

In 1962, Nikolayev was selected as one of the six cosmonauts for the Vostok 3 mission, which was launched on August 11, 1962. This was the first time that two spacecraft had been in orbit at the same time, with Nikolayev and fellow cosmonaut Pavel Popovich aboard Vostok 3 and Andrian Nikolayev aboard Vostok 4. The two spacecraft came within a few kilometers of each other, but the cosmonauts did not actually make contact.

Nikolayev's second spaceflight was on Soyuz 9, which launched on June 1, 1970. This mission set a new endurance record, with Nikolayev and fellow cosmonaut Vitali Sevastyanov spending 17 days in orbit. They conducted various experiments and medical tests, and Nikolayev even married his wife Valentina Tereshkova, who was also a cosmonaut, while in orbit.

Nikolayev's third and final spaceflight was on Soyuz 22, which launched on September 15, 1976. This mission was notable for being the first time that a Soviet spacecraft had landed on German territory. Nikolayev and fellow cosmonaut Vladimir Kovalyonok spent almost eight days in orbit, conducting experiments and taking photographs of the Earth.

In addition to his spaceflights, Nikolayev was also a member of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and a deputy in the Soviet parliament. He retired from the Soviet Air Force in 1982 and became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Andriyan Nikolayev passed away on July 3, 2004, at the age of 74.

Item: Hermann Oberth signed photo.
Size: 10 x 15 cm.

Description: this image was printed from a photo negative for collectors. It has the following annotations on the back written in German: "Father of spaceflight", and the dates of birth and death.

Hermann Julius Oberth (1894-1989) was a German physicist and engineer born in Austria-Hungary. He is considered one of the founding fathers of rocketry and astronautics, along with the Frenchman Robert Esnault-Pelterie, the Russian Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the American Robert Goddard and the Slovenian of Austro-Hungarian origin Herman Potočnik.

Oberth became a member of the Verein für Raumschiffahrt (VfR), the "Society for Space Travel", an amateur rocketry group that had been greatly inspired by his book, and Oberth acted as a mentor to enthusiasts who joined the Society, which included people like Wernher von Braun, Rolf Engel, Rudolf Nebel or Paul Ehmayr.

Oberth's student Max Valier joined forces with Fritz von Opel to create the world's first large-scale experimental rocket program, Opel-RAK, which led to speed records for land and rail vehicles and the world's first rocket plane. The Opel RAK.1, a purpose-built design by Julius Hatry, was shown to the public and world media on September 30, 1929, piloted by von Opel. Valier's and von Opel's demonstrations had a strong and lasting impact on later pioneers of space flight, in particular another of Oberth's students, Wernher von Braun.

In 1929, Oberth conducted a static firing of his first liquid-fueled rocket engine, which he named Kegeldüse. He was aided in this experiment by 18-year-old student Wernher von Braun, who would later become a giant of German and American rocket engineering from the 1940s onward, culminating in the gigantic Saturn V rockets that made it possible for man to land on the Moon in 1969 and several years later. In fact, Von Braun said of him:

"Hermann Oberth was the first who, when thinking about the possibility of spaceships, took a slide rule and presented mathematically analyzed concepts and designs... I myself owe him not only the guiding star of my life, but also my first contact with the theoretical and practical aspects of rocketry and space travel. A place of honor in the history of science and technology must be reserved for his pioneering contributions to the field of astronautics."

Wernher von Braun poses with Hermann Oberth, Ernst Stuhlinger, U.S. General Holger Toftoy, Robert Lusser, and models of missiles he helped design.

More information

Hermann Oberth (Wikipedia)

Item: Rudolf Nebel signed postcard.
Size: 9.9 x 18 cm.

Year: 1969.
Publisher: Briefmarkenschau, Duisburg

Description:

Postcard titled "Rudolf Nebel and Wernher von Braun at the Berlin Rocket Launching Site".

For more information about Rudolf Nebel, visit this post from my collection.

Item: Rudolf Nebel signed postcard.
Size: 10.5 x 14.2 cm.
Publisher: Ruhr-Nachrichten.

Description:

Rudolf Nebel (1894-1978) was a rocket designer and founder of the world's first rocket airfield in Berlin. He is considered one of the founding fathers of space travel.

He was an early member of the Verein für Raumschiffahrt, or VfR (Society for Space Travel), working closely together with persons such as Wernher von Braun, Rolf Engel, Hermann Oberth or Paul Ehmayr.

Nebel acted very much as the group's spokesperson, organising the donation of materials from various local businesses, and negotiating with the Berlin municipal council for the use of a disused ammunition dump for the VfR's launch site or Raketenflugplatz. He later talked the Magdeburg council into funding the launch of a rocket with a human passenger on board (Magdeburger Startgerät).

On his 80th birthday, Rudolf Nebel was not only honored by a number of major German newspapers, but his student Wernher von Braun also wrote in his birthday letter: "You can also be assured that the history of technology has well recognized your own part in the success of manned spaceflight. The letter ended with the words: "I myself am indebted to you, since it was you who, as a young student, introduced me to the practical problems of developing liquid rockets."

Rudolf Nebel (left) and Wernher von Braun during their time in the VfR, Berlin. Credit: Die Deutschen Geheim Waffen, by Brian Ford, 1969.

More information

Rudolf Nebel - Wikipedia

Rudolf Nebel - Stadtwiki Weißenburg (German)

Item: Piece of postcard flown aboard New Shepard NS-18.
Size: 1.7 x 0.7 cm.

Description: NS-18 reached an altitude of 107 km (66 mi). Duration: 10 min, 17 sec. Crew: Audrey Powers, Chris Boschuizen, Glen de Vries, and William Shatner. This cut out comes from a set of 20 pieces that were given for free by space memorabilia collector Roger Kilchenmann.

Original postcard flown aboard Blue Origin NS-18. The black rectangle shows the piece in my collection.

More information:

Launch of Blue Origin NS-18

Item: Sigmund Jähn signed postcard.

Size: 14.9 x 10.5 cm.
Date: 1983.
Publisher: Bild und Heimat - Reichenbauch (Vogtl).

Item: Der erste Deutsche im Kosmos - Ein Bürger der DDR - Postcard

Size: 14.8 x 10.4 cm.
Publisher: Verlag für Agitations- und Anchauungsmittel Berlin

Description: Image of Valery Bykovsky and Sigmund Jähn. It has the printed signature of Jähn. Berlin stamp dated 09-14-1978 "Der erste Deutche im Kosmos ein Bürger der DDR" (the first German in cosmos, a citizen of the GDR) and stamp on the front. Unused front.

Item: Sigmund Jähn Postcard
Size: 14.8 x 10.4 cm.
Publisher: Verlag für Agitations- und Anchauungsmittel Berlin

Description: It includes the printed signature. On the obverse, 2 Berlin stamps dated 09-14-1978 "Der erste Deutche im Kosmos ein Bürger der DDR" (the first German in Cosmos, a citizen of the GDR).

Item: Halley's Comet - Maybe Maybe Twice in a Lifetime - stamp presentation postcard
Size: 14.8 x 10.5 cm
Creator: Ralph Steadman

Publisher: British Philatellic Bureau Edingburgh.

Description: 

Postcard reproduced from a stamp designed by Ralph Steadman and issued by the British Post Office on 18 February 1986. Stamp affixed to the postcard and cancelled by the British Philatellic Bureau Edingburgh.