Article No.: 10887
An exceptional European flown space-mail artifact, carried to the International Space Station aboard ESA’s ATV-4 Albert Einstein and subsequently returned safely to Earth aboard SpaceX Dragon CRS-3.
Albert Einstein launched atop an Ariane 5 from Kourou on June 5, 2013, docking with the ISS ten days later. At more than 20 tonnes, ATV-4 was then the heaviest spacecraft ever launched by Europe, delivering approximately seven tonnes of supplies, propellant and scientific equipment to the station.
At the time of its arrival, the six-member Expedition 36 crew consisted of Pavel Vinogradov, Alexander Misurkin, Fyodor Yurchikhin, Christopher Cassidy, Karen Nyberg, and ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano, who oversaw the ATV docking and unloading operations.
Unlike Albert Einstein itself, which was deliberately destroyed during atmospheric re-entry in November 2013, the present cover remained safely aboard the ISS in a cargo transfer bag. It was later loaded aboard SpaceX Dragon CRS-3 and returned to Earth on May 18, 2014, giving the piece the unusual distinction of having traveled to orbit aboard a European ATV and returned aboard an American commercial spacecraft. Contemporary astrophilatelic documentation specifically records these ATV-4 covers as returning aboard Dragon CRS-3.
The flown cover is presented in its official Airbus presentation folder, accompanied by three additional unflown commemorative covers, and remains in excellent to mint condition.
Provenance: From the personal collection of renowned astrophilatelist Jacques Bracke.
A particularly attractive artifact linking Ariane 5, ESA’s pioneering ATV program, the International Space Station and SpaceX’s early Dragon cargo program—a tangible record of international spaceflight cooperation spanning both European and American spacecraft.