Now last but not least the stamps. If you are not interested in stamps or the American space program, you can now just zip to the bottom as this is the last item. Thank you for reading this far....
I have called this blog: T for Treasure, because I received a real treasure in the post this week. It was an envelope which contained a postcard. I am not showing you the postcard, because the real treasure was the envelope. It was so full of stamps that both sides were full and there was just enough space for the address.
This was the back of the envelope:
And this First Man On The Moon, (as well as Benefiting Mankind), were on the front of the envelope.
Most of the info I have gathered is from Wikipedia.
First Man on Moon Commemorative Issue of 1969
At 10:56 p.m. EDT Armstrong is ready to plant the first human foot on another world. With more than half a billion people watching on television, he climbs down the ladder and proclaims: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
On September 9, 1969, the U.S. Post office issued its first airmail stamp to depict a space exploration theme, the First Man on the Moon issue. The man depicted in the space suit is Neil Armstrong taking man's first step on the Moon. This issue was designed by Paul Calle. The stamp's original master die was actually flown to the Moon, and a letter with the stamp canceled on the way back. The quantities issued were more than 152 million making the issue quite common, and quite popular.
This one features the Columbia Space Shuttle and the Space Lab:
It is part of a stamp sheet, issued by the United States in 1981, depicting space achievements:
Benefiting Mankind, four center stamps featuring the Columbia space shuttle
Exploring the Moon, featuring an astronaut on the moon;
Understanding the Sun, featuring the Skylab space station;
Probing The Planets, featuring Pioneer 11 near the Saturn; and
Comprehending the Universe, featuring a space telescope.
One of the stamps on the back feature Robbert H Goddard. I admit I had never heard of this man, so I looked on Wikipedia:
Robert H. Goddard Issue of 1964
Robert Hutchings Goddard was an American engineer, professor, physicist, and inventor who is credited with creating and building the world's first liquid-fueled rocket. Goddard successfully launched his rocket on March 16, 1926, ushering in an era of space flight and innovation.
Robert Hutchings Goddard (October 5, 1882 – August 10, 1945) is widely recognized as the "father of rocketry," as he pioneered the modern propulsion rocket based on his knowledge of math, engineering and physics. His accomplishments included creating the first rocket propelled using liquid fuel and developing the first rocket to use internal vanes for guidance. He launched his first rocket in March 1926. Goddard continued to achieve many firsts in the field of rocketry with funding from institutions such as the Smithsonian. In 1919, the Smithsonian Institution published Robert Goddard's groundbreaking work, A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes. Other than from sources like the Smithsonian, Goddard received little public support for his research during his lifetime. He was the first to recognize the scientific potential of liquid fuel rockets in space travel and was instrumental in bringing about the design and construction of those rockets needed to implement those ideas.
Though his work in the field was revolutionary, he was sometimes ridiculed by the public and in the press for his theories concerning spaceflight and therefore became protective of his privacy and his research work. Years after his death, as manned spaceflight finally became a reality, Goddard at long last came to be recognized as the man who pioneered modern rocketry and ultimately space exploration.
How sad that this man was ridiculed in his time.
On October 5, 1964, the U.S. Post Office issued a postage stamp commemorating Robert Goddard. The stamp depicts an image of Goddard next to a rocket launching from the Kennedy Space Center. The Post Office released the stamp issues at a ceremony held in New Mexico. Goddard's wife, Esther Goddard, attended the ceremony. She was given the honor of pressing the button launching two rockets, one of which flew some mile and a half into the air. The two rockets each carried 1,000 first day covers, and after parachuting to the ground were recovered with the first day covers later sold to collectors.
Apollo 8 Issue of 1969
Up until the time of the Apollo 8 mission all manned ventures into space were confined to brief flights into space or to orbiting the Earth. Apollo 8 was the first human spaceflight mission to leave Earth orbit; the first to be captured by and escape from the gravitational field of another celestial body; and the first crew to voyage and then return to planet Earth from another celestial body – Earth's Moon. The three-man crew of mission Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders became the first humans to see the far side of the Moon with their own eyes, as well as the first humans to see planet Earth from beyond low Earth orbit. 
Apollo 8, entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 1968. NASA had asked the crew to "say something appropriate". That evening, the astronauts held a live broadcast from lunar orbit, in which they showed pictures of the Earth and moon as seen from their spacecraft. They ended the broadcast with the crew taking turns reading from the book of Genesis.
The next one is the Sky Lab:
Skylab Issue of 1974
The first skylab mission was launched from Kennedy Space Center May 25, 1973. A crew of three astronauts spent 28 days aboard Skylab. The second mission lasted 59 days, and the third and final mission lasted 84 days, setting a record at that time.
The 10-cent Skylab commemorative stamp first day of release took place at Houston, Texas, on May 14, 1974. This issue commemorates the first anniversary of the launching of Skylab, and depicts the station as it was repaired, complete with "umbrella" and missing the lost solar panel. The stamp was designed by Robert T. McCall and was issued in sheets of fifty, with an initial printing of 140 million.
Space Achievement Decade Issue of 1971
This 'Space Achievements' issue depicts the Earth, Sun, Lunar Module, the Lunar Roving Vehicle and astronauts. Two 8-cent connected stamps commemorating a decade of space achievements were placed on sale August 2, 1971, at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, and Houston, Texas. First day covers were postmarked at two different post offices (Houston, Texas and Huntsville, Alabama, location of the two tracking stations.) rather than the usual one because of extraordinary popularity of the space program at the time of issuance.Accomplishments in Space Commemorative Issue of 1967
Gemini IV was a June 1965 manned space flight in NASA's Gemini program. It was the second manned Gemini flight, the tenth manned American flight and the 18th spaceflight of all time (includes X-15 flights over 100 kilometres (62 mi)). It was crewed by James McDivitt and Ed White.
The highlight of the mission was the first space walk by an American, during which White remained tethered outside the spacecraft for 22 minutes. Tied to a tether, White fired his oxygen powered "zip gun" and floated out of the capsule. He traveled fifteen feet (five meters) out, and began to experiment with maneuvering. He found it easy, especially the pitch and yaw, although he thought the roll would use too much fuel.
Two 5-cent connected stamps comprise one illustration of an astronaut during a space walk, honoring the space accomplishments of the United States. These issues were first placed on sale on September 29, 1967, at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Project Mercury Issue of 1962
Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States. It ran from 1959 through 1963 with the goal of putting a human in orbit around the Earth. The Mercury-Atlas 6 flight on February 20, 1962, was the first Mercury flight to achieve this goal.
The Post Office Department honored this first orbital flight of a United States astronaut on February 20, 1962, when it released the Project Mercury commemorative stamp, placed on sale throughout the country at the exact hour Colonel John Glenn's historic flight officially had returned to Earth safely.
The 4-cent stamp features an image of the Mercury Friendship 7 capsule circling the Earth, against a field of stars. The spacecraft is now housed at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC. Because the event was deemed so popular the number of quantities issued totaled more than 289 million, more than twice the average amount of quantities issued for commemorative postage issues of that time.
This issue has somewhat of an unusual history. It was one of the first issues printed on the new Giori Press (named after its inventor, Gualtiero Giori). It employed a series of specially cut rubber rollers that applied two or three different colored inks on the same printing plate. As the new press was being used to print the Project Mercury stamp before the mission took place and in case the mission failed or was canceled, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing kept word about the new press and the stamp issue's production a secret. To further assure that the project be kept secret the designer of this issue, Charles R. Chickering, worked from his home and simply claimed that he was away on vacation. The stamps, waiting at post offices around the U.S., were sealed and marked "Top Secret". Only after Glenn's trip were the postmasters allowed to open the package and see what was inside.
Sorry this has been a rather long post, but I hope you found it interesting.
.jpg)
