Space Stamps

Stamp collecting is part of a historical subject called philately (the study of stamps.) As with any hobby, there are people who are more intense about their practice, and those who just enjoy having a shiny new thing (Shiny new things available now at your local post office, buy stamps and support the post office.) Stamps are collected for a variety of reasons. They often feature popular characters and athletes. Many have historical events portrayed, and attract those who study, ranging from wars to animals. In order to explain the story of these stamps, you need to understand one small term from philately.

A "cover" is what you call the outside of an envelope or package that has been sent through the mail. The stamp, having acted as currency, and fulfilling its' existence to bring mail, receives an inking pressed onto it to signify it has been cancelled. If you check out the previous post, you can see a gorgeous example of a postmark and a stamp cancellation.

In 1971, two 8-cent stamps were issued to commemorate a decade of space achievements. These stamps were only available at Kennedy Space Center and Space Center Houston. They feature an exquisite, hand drawn depiction of the Lunar Rover, sitting on the surface of the Earth 1 (our moon). In the background, you can see the Apollo Lunar Module, as well as Terra (the Earth) and Sol (the Sun.) You can see that the two stamps together form a complete panorama, which means they are se-tenant stamps, from the French for "holding together."

These stamps are in excellent condition. The edges are crisp. The perforations that held these two sets of stamps together are sharp, and may have been separated by craft knife. The various degrees of blue inks have all held up wonderfully. The sun is blindingly bright, showing its incredible power even through the picture of a stamp-sized, hand drawn portrayal. Even on a stamp, space is capable of causing awe and wonder.

A view of Earth

detail

Dark side of the Earth

The Lunar Rover

detail

Dark side of the Moon

Together again

Here is where the story gets interesting.

In 1971, the crew of the Apollo 15 became the 4th ever to land on the Moon. They spent 12 days on the lunar surface, performing the longest ever scientific survey of the Moon. They even took the time to validate Galileo's theory about dropping a hammer and a feather at the same time, without air resistance.

In 1972, the crew of the Apollo 15 were called before a closed session of the United States Senate for a special committee. They never flew in space again.

Astronauts aboard the Apollo 15 had agreed to carry 641 unauthorized postal covers into space, and bring them onto the Moon. Bringing these stamps into space would cement them in philately history, and make them worth incredible amounts of money to private collectors and museums. There were 150 million of these 8-cent stamps produced, and with only a few hundred covers being brought into space, they would be incredibly rare.

The crew of the Apollo 15 was to receive approximately $7000 each, from a West German stamp dealer who through the use of a mutual acquaintance, made these covers postmarked the morning of the Apollo 15 launch. When the astronauts returned to Earth, they would have them postmarked again, this time on the Naval Carrier USS Okinawa, the ship that performed recovery the of the Apollo 15. 100 were sent to the stamp dealer, and the remaining covers were split up between the astronauts.

In June of 1972, the scandal of the space stamps had made national news, with many outraged that astronauts were gaining personal profit from NASA missions.

In 1983, Alfred Worden, one of the crew members of the Apollo 15, sued NASA. He, unlike his fellow crew members, had listed 144 covers on his manifest of personal items, receiving permission to bring them to the Moon. The covers were returned to Worden.

In 2014, one of the covers sent to the West German stamp collector sold for over $50,000 at auction.

Although these stamps you are looking at are part of the 99.9999958267% of versions of the 8-cent stamp that didn't end up in space, it certainly doesn't make them any less cool. Ok well maybe a little less cool. But space is still cool!