The 20th anniversary of the first landing on the moon has sparked a rush of postal items from countries in many parts of the world.
The U.S. Postal Service, which recently issued a $2.40 Priority Mail stamp, is offering two new philatelic items to honor the landing.One is a limited-edition Space Poster that features the dramatic original moon landing stamp designed by artist Chris Calle. It is the third poster offered by the Postal Service, joining the previously issued Classic Cars and Lou Gehrig.
The new poster shows the astronauts before their historic landing. A border of red, white and blue surrounds the central figure, together with a montage of smaller images that trace the development and history of flight.
Portrayed in the montage are Leonardo da Vinci, the Wright Brothers, Charles Lindbergh and Dr. Robert Goddard. Other photos show the Wrights' plane, the Mercury Friendship 7 space capsule, Gemini and Apollo rocket launches, and the space shuttle Challenger during Mission STS7 in 1983.
The $2.40 Moon Landing Priority Mail stamp is illustrated on the poster, as are two commemorative space medals.
The other item on the Postal Service moon anniversary program is a souvenir envelope, item No. 8861. It bears the Priority Mail stamp, the July 20 first-day-of-issue cancellation and a cachet.
The Space Poster costs $10 and will be available at select post offices. The souvenir envelope is priced at $3.50. To order either or both by mail, send a check or money order for the total amount of the items requested, plus 50 cents handling per order, to: Philatelic Sales Division, Washington, DC 20265-9997. There is a $10 minimum on mail orders.
"Steps to the Moon"
In keeping with the moon anniversary postal issuances, Grenada has issued eight stamps and two souvenir sheets with the theme "Steps to the Moon."
The 15-cent bears a portrait of Alan B. Shepard Jr., the first American to enter outer space, and his Mercury spacecraft Feeedom 7, on May 5, 1961. On the 35-cent is John H. Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, in the Friendship 7, on Feb. 20, 1962.
The 45-cent illustrates the Apollo 8 spacecraft becoming the first manned vehicle to orbit the moon, on Dec. 24, 1968, while the 70-cent shows astronaut John Young riding the Apollo 16's Lunar Rover on the moon, in April 1972.
On the $1 is the Eagle, the Lunar Excursion Module, landing on the surface of the moon, on July 20, 1969. The $2 depicts the first space-docking with Gemini 8 and Agena rocket, on March 16, 1966.
The first walk in space, by U.S. astronaut Edward White on June 3, 1965, is featured on the $3, while the $4 bears the emblem of the Apollo 7 mission, which conducted the first test of the Apollo Command Module.
New From Sierra Leone
On a grandiose scale, Sierra Leone has released a set of 5-cent stamps and three souvenir sheets in tribute to 32 years of space exploration, beginning with the successful launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union in 1957.
The stamps, printed in six sheetlets of nine stamps each, devote much attention to the manned Apollo moon missions.
One souvenir sheet highlights the history of space exploration between 1957 and 1989 and depicts Skylab One. The second sheet bears an artistic illustration of future space stations. The third sheet features Voyager I and the rings of Saturn.
Scott Catalogs
We now jump over the moon stamps and go on to recent developments on the catalog scene, where Scott has issued Volume 2 of its 1990 catalog.
The new volume, which covers countries of the world from A to F, costs $25. A hardcover, leatherette edition with gold lettering is $49.95. Volume 3 is scheduled for release in September and Volume 4 in October. The U.S. Specialized Catalog is scheduled for release in November.