Apollo 15 postal covers incident in the moon landings, the public's fascination with items flown in space increased, as did their value. Although it was not publicly known until September 1972, 15 of the men who entered space as Apollo Program astronauts, before Apollo 15, had agreed with a West German named Horst Eiermann to autograph 500 philatelic items (postcards and blocks of stamps) in exchange for $2,500. This included a member of each mission between Apollo 7 (1968) and Apollo 13 (1970). These items were not taken into space. Covers were prepared by the crews and flown on Apollo 11, Apollo 13 and Apollo
Apollo Applications Program pilot was a concern for mission planners, so proposals that it would be a three-man landing team or that the CSM would rendezvous with an orbiting module were considered. The following phases were considered: The "Apollo LM Taxi" was essentially the basic Apollo LM modified for extended lunar surface stays. This was expected to be the workhorse of both "Apollo Applications Extended Lunar Surface Missions" beginning in 1970 and to larger "Lunar Exploration System for Apollo" in the mid-to-late 1970s. The "Apollo LM Shelter" was essentially an Apollo LM with ascent stage engine and fuel tanks removed and replaced with