a rare chance to obtain a lunar surface artifact with a complex and interesting history directly from the estate of an apollo 15 crew member.
This is one from the set of postal covers not reported to NASA by the crew as flown on the mission, thus not authorized by NASA. This set of covers was postmarked the morning of 26 July 1971, vacuumed packed, stored a in fire-proof Beta bag, then presented to Commander David Scott who stored them in one of his space suit pockets.
A corner is stamped: "This envelope was carried to the moon aboard the Apollo 15. # 13 (in ink) of 400 to the lunar surface in L.M. 'Falcon.' Part of the unauthorized group of covers were sent to a European dealer and unexpectedly sold just after the Apollo 15 mission."
During the summer of 1972 the story finally came to the attention of the world press. NASA launched an investigation and confiscated the remaining covers. An official NASA press release stated: "The Apollo 15 crew exercised poor judgment in their actions. Therefore, Astronauts Scott, Worden and Irwin will be reprimanded and their actions given due consideration in their selection for future assignment." This event essentially ended both their NASA and Air Force careers.
In the early 1980's, the Apollo 15 crew was able to get NASA to return the confiscated covers to them. The crew then signed a notarized affidavit dated 19 July 1983 telling the story and certifying that this cover was indeed flown to the lunar surface, is serial number 13, and has the NASA confiscated serial number 088 on the reverse side. Signed by Scott, Worden, and Irwin.